Gives You Hell
by kitsuneshadow47
Summary: Arthur's birthday, Ygraine's death day. Arthur: bad mood, snaps at Merlin, they fight. Both accidentally cross the line. "I could find a servant better than you, Merlin! One who's not a bumbling idiot!" What'll Merlin do when this really happens? SLASH.
1. Chapter 1: The Impending Storm

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 1: The Impending Storm**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), mild quarrels, and hints of citrus (as this story goes on ;3)

**Music on My Mind~ **Gives You Hell by All American Rejects (don't own)

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

LAWL—I immediately thought of Arthur and Merlin after hearing this song (above). XD Then I slept on it (not that way, you pervert ^^") late at night, and here is the result. Something bitter _and_ sweet for all of you ArthurxMerlin slash fangirls. ;D

Enjoy~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.

~o~

Today…was probably the _worst_ day I could ever ask for in my life.

No, wait—let me think for just a second…

Yes—_definitely_ the worst_. _Why?

For one thing, it was literally raining cats and dogs outside, but that wasn't the only issue that made my life seem miserable for now. Compared to something…or _someone _in particular, this was merely a trivial matter.

(insert sigh here) So—where do I begin?

Today, my master, or better yet, Prince _Prat-a-lot_, was being extra arrogant for some reason that will probably remain unknown to me for the time being. It all began this morning when he had me wake up early to go out for a hunt with a few of his knights.

During that whole time, he rarely said a word to me—well…of course not counting: "Merlin, hand me this!" or "Merlin, hand me that!"

"Merlin, what the hell do you think you're doing!"

With that, my mind snaps back to reality. Oh wait, we're still outside in the bloody rain—chasing a _unicorn, _for crying out loud.

_AGAIN—_after all the trouble we'd gone through the first time around, if you can remember the drought and food shortage and whatnot.

Prince Prat-a-lot turns to give me a death glare of some sort and continues to yell at me.

"MERLIN!"

As soon as I get myself together, I notice a white blur rush right past me, and Arthur begins to go after it. But after a while, the mythical creature gets away and the blonde grabs me by my shirt collar.

"You idiot! Why'd you let it get away!"

I stare back at him with a puzzled expression on my face. "Because I don't want what happened before to happen again. You of all people should know that by now."

But Arthur only growls and shoves me aside.

God knows what the hell his problem was. All I know is that I did absolutely nothing to him to deserve this.

He cursed under his breath, then gave us the orders to return back to the castle. But before the two of us followed after the rest of the group, I glanced back to see him place his hand of his forehead and let out an irritated sigh. Then he shifts his gaze towards me, and I begin to follow behind the other knights.

~o~

His mood never changed, even when we finally got inside. As soon as we'd entered his chambers, he merely tossed aside his armor and sword and made his way towards the other side of the room to undress.

"Merlin, get my bath ready—and make sure the water's hot this time."

I do as he says and pull over what was supposed to be the bathtub, pouring in buckets of bathwater and checking its temperature.

Too cold.

With that, I briefly glance at the blonde, still taking off his tunic with his back turned. Then I softly make an inconspicuous incantation, causing the water to heat up not long after that with clouds of steam hovering over it.

Hopefully it wasn't _boiling _this time.

That was when I stopped to think and remember what happened _that _time.

~xXx~

"_No—let me!"_

_SPLASH._

~xXx~

I sigh, then quickly dipped my finger into the water. A bit hot—but nothing like before, so it should be okay…

In just moments, Arthur was standing in front of me with a towel wrapped around his waist. Then he exhaled sharply out of exhaustion and dunked his foot in the soapy water.

And to my surprise, he cries out, whipping his foot out not long after that and looking at me with angry eyes.

"Merlin! How many times must I tell you not to make the water too hot!"

"But sire, you just asked me to make the bath water hot this time. And it actually _wasn't _boiling."

He growls. "Yeah—it's probably _close _to boiling this time!" The blonde cried out in frustration and swiped the bucket of cold water off the table, dumping it right over my head.

Yup—extra cold today. Why the hell do I keep leaving it over there?

I pause for a moment to let his head cool off for a moment. Then I open my mouth to speak.

But that was when Arthur cuts me off.

"You know, Merlin, your stupidity is just _aggravating _to me."

Not like I haven't heard that phrase before.

"So I see."

"No, really—it _is._"

"Uh-huh."

"There's absolutely _no one _in the world that's dumber than you are."

I still wonder who shoved a stick up his ass this morning.

"I'm sure there isn't," I reply blatantly.

It goes on like this for a while, but even after ten minutes, it was yet to end.

That was when he _really _crossed the line, which actually ticked me off for once.

"I bet your father was a moron, too."

In that instant, my face grew serious. He didn't just say that. Of course he didn't. I told him, he _knew, _and he wouldn't _dare._

"You don't really mean that."

Arthur scoffed and laughed sardonically. "Of course I do! No wonder you're as stupid as he was!"

At that moment, I get up to leave. I wouldn't take any more of this. "That's it. I'm leaving."

"So go then!" the blonde continues, acid dripping in his very tone. "No one's stopping you! Except your father's idiocy, that is! No wonder he left _you _in the first place!"

Immediately, he hits a cord somewhere in the very core of my heart, and I whirl around to narrow my eyes at him. "Don't you dare. Continue, and I'll never speak to you again."

The blonde chuckles and slowly shakes his head. "So what? I wouldn't care." He looked up at me with a sarcastic grin on his face. "I could find a servant better than you, Merlin! One who's actually not a _bumbling _idiot!"

Without thinking, hurtful words begin to spill from my mouth.

"Oh, is that so? I bet I could find a master who's not an arrogant _clotpole_ like you are!"

After that, we both ended up yelling at each other at the top of our lungs.

"Shut up!"

"No, you _shut up!_"

"I _hate _you!"

"I hate you, too!"

"You tick me off!"

"_You _tick _me_ off even more! You always have!"

Then pretty soon…it came to a point where I'd realized that I'd gone too far.

"I bet your _mother_ wasn't an ass like you are now! She'd probably be ashamed to see the likes of you here where you stand!"

After that, I swallow, breathing heavily at the same time.

Then I paused for a moment the minute I'd noticed the room become deathly quiet. After a while, I glance over to see Arthur just standing on the other side of the room with his face rigid—as if he's just been slapped across the face by a giant.

In that instant, I recoil for a second, thinking about what I'd just done. I swallowed, looking at the blonde with remorse. "Arthur…I didn't mean—"

Before I could finish my sentence, the blonde looked at me with probably the coldest glare I'd ever seen. Then his face turned red, and he screamed at me.

"Get out! Just get out! I never want to see you again!"

My breath wavered at that moment, and I began to feel faint.

Obviously this had to be a bad dream of some sort, like with Morgana…but sadly, it wasn't because I noticed I was wide awake.

With that, I found myself absent-mindedly heading for the door, almost stumbling.

Then as soon as I stepped into the hallway, the door slammed behind me.

Dead silence.

I lean my head back against the wall and put my hand over my forehead.

…_what have I done?_

~o~

_It wasn't your fault._

My head never stopped pounding ever since I left.

_None of this is your fault, Merlin. It's his. He started it all._

Like a blind man, I fumbled for the doorknob and staggered into Gaius's chambers, shutting the door behind me with a sigh.

At that moment, Gaius raised his head from his work to look up at me with a concerned expression on his face.

"Merlin. You look pale."

I took a deep breath, then slowly came down from where I was to approach him.

With that, Gaius turned to place his hand on my shoulder. "What's the matter? Did something happen between you and Arthur?"

For a moment, I was silent and held my breath. Then I spoke in a soft voice, avoiding his gaze.

"It's nothing."

"Merlin. Tell me the truth."

I swallowed, then turned away from Gaius. I chose my words carefully as I answered him wholeheartedly. "He yelled at me, and we got in a fight. But it wasn't my fault. He insulted my father."

I glanced back to see him open his mouth to speak up, but I cut him off and continued. "I know…that he didn't mean it, but I got really mad at him back there and…ended up insulting his mother as well." My voice faltered slightly. "Then Arthur got mad at me, too…and told me to leave—that he never wanted to see me again."

With that, I turned around to face Gaius. "Of course I didn't mean what I said, either. I'd never go that far to say anything like that to him. But he gave me no choice—he crossed the line. You can't blame me for what happened, because he started this from the very beginning."

That was when he cut me off himself. "No—you are definitely not to blame here for this situation, since none of this was your fault in the first place." He paused. "Is Arthur all right? How has his mood been since this morning?"

"Since this morning he's been…" I exhaled sharply. "Unbelievable. Nothing like I've ever seen from him before."

Silence.

I stopped for a moment, then noticed that Gaius's face was solemn.

"Why? Do you know anything about it?"

He pursed his lips, then turned to look down at his desk.

"Gaius."

He paused for a long minute, then spoke in a serious tone. "…it feels like eons since I've mentioned that very day."

In that instant, questions began to riddle my mind. "What day?"

Another moment of silence.

Then Gaius looked at me with sad eyes. "Today…is Arthur's birthday."

At that moment, I wrinkled my forehead in confusion. "So? Then he should be thrilled to know he'll have _some _special treatment today.

That was when the physician closed his eyes and sighed. "Today is also his mother's death day."

Immediately, I held my breath. _Uh-oh._

Gaius saw the worried expression on my face and put his hand back on my shoulder.

"Go apologize to him quickly. I'm sure he feels just as guilty as you are for beginning this trivial quarrel."

I frowned for a moment.

"…I hope so."

With that, I headed for the door.

"Be careful how you word things with him from this point on, Merlin," Gaius called over my shoulder.

I nodded once and ran outside.

~o~

_Just two words and that's it, _I thought to myself as I reluctantly walked along the main hall. Then I turned left on one corner and continued until I came across a specific wooden door.

…_his _door.

I paused for a moment and let out a sigh as I reached out for the doorknob in front of me, a brief image of Arthur's terrifyingly angry face flashing through my mind at the same time.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before finally pushing the door open.

"Two words," I muttered softly to myself.

_And hopefully he didn't take this _too _hard…_

With that, the door to his chambers effortlessly opened, revealing the very inside of the room.

Of course—at this point, I was still expecting the mess to be there: puddles of bath water all over the place, his dirty armor left in an askew pile on the other side of the room, forgotten (by me). And knowing Arthur for more than a while now, it was obvious that he wouldn't have bothered to clean any of it up "because it wasn't his job to do any of that whatsoever."

I sighed. Just _wonderful._

I swallowed, prepared to face whatever I would end up seeing before me at that moment.

But just as soon as I'd opened my eyes…

I couldn't believe it.

~o~

The room was clean—_spotless, _if you really want me to go that far. But that wasn't the point.

At the small table near his bed, I could see Arthur sitting there with a plate of food out in front of him—the breakfast that _I _was _supposed _to have brought up a few minutes ago but ended up forgetting to do so due to the commotion…

That was when I saw him standing next to the blonde—a frail brunette not much younger than me with big eyes as blue as a deep ocean—pouring water into the other's cup with a carefree, innocent grin on his face.

The two were laughing over something one of them had said: something that I was yet to know.

And Arthur…was _smiling._

~o~

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

Well, this is pretty much where it all began and in the next couple of chapters or so, the storm will begin… ^^" Hope you liked this story so far, and if you did, it'd be really nice if you reviewed and gave me some sort of feedback. XD You see, this is 'prolly the time of year where tons of plot bunnies just swarm into my head and attack my brain, so…yeah—right now I have THREE multi-chapter fics going on (counting this one ^^"). Please help me keep interest in this one, too! ;D

Thanks and ja~! =^w^=

(Still watching **Merlin **as we speak—season 3, baby! XD)

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.


	2. Chapter 2: The Howling Whirlwind

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 2: The Howling Whirlwind**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), very _minimal _OOC, mild quarrels, and hints of citrus (as this story goes on ;3)

**Music on My Mind~ **The Merlin Theme Music, guys~ XD (don't own)

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

Sorry this update took so long. The past few weeks have been hectic for me as far as school comes in—not that anyone would care. ^^" So I didn't want to rush this chapter. XD

Anyways, we continue from where we left off…the storm has yet to begin. ~wO

Enjoy~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.

~o~

Even at that moment, as I shifted my gaze from Arthur to him, those words still echoed clearly in the very center of my mind:

_"I could find a servant better than you, Merlin! One who's actually not a __bumbling __idiot!"_

And then came in the words _I'd _said.

_"Oh, is that so? I bet I could find a master who's not an arrogant __clotpole__ like you are!"_

I took a deep breath, then slowly began to back away from the door in horror. Even now, the two of them were still smiling at each other.

At that moment, my face grew grim.

_No. Way. This _can't _be happening._

I exhaled sharply, then turned to leave before either could see me from where I was. But that was when I accidentally bumped into Gwen, who had probably been on her way to tend to Morgana in her chambers.

"Merlin—what are you—"

Without a thought, I covered her mouth with my hand and put a finger in front of my mouth, signaling her to be quiet. Then I took her hand and dragged her down to the other end of the hallway, stopping after we turned on a nearby corner where no one else could see us.

"Sorry," I whispered to Gwen, looking at her reluctantly.

In response, she crossed her arms, a serious expression on her face.

"What's going on?"

I didn't answer. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and stared wearily at my feet.

"Merlin."

Silence.

Then after a few seconds…

"Were you spying on Arthur?"

Immediately, I whipped my head up to look back at Gwen with my eyes wide open in shock.

"No!" I blurted out without hesitating for even a moment. "_No—_pshh, Gwen, what would possibly make you think _that—_"

She raised an eyebrow at me.

Then I let out a sigh of defeat.

"Ok, I was spying on him. But I meant to just _check _on him, really."

I glanced up to see her contentedly smiling back at me. "…do I want to know why?"

In that instant, my face grew solemn, and Gwen's smile had soon disappeared.

"_No,_" I ended up answering back in a dull, slightly bitter tone. But then I held my breath and took it back as I noticed her countenance change. "No, wait—I didn't mean—"

She chuckled. "It's fine. You don't have to tell me."

I grinned back at her.

"Is there anything I could do to help though?"

At that moment, a thought lit up in the corner of my mind. _Yes—there is._

I chose my words carefully. "Tell me…has Arthur hired any new _servants _recently?"

Gwen paused to think for a minute. "…Arthur? No—not that I haven't heard of."

In that instant, I thought I felt the weight on my chest begin to get lighter.

"Although I did hear that Uther took in a new crew this morning since he's supposed to have some special guest over for the day."

Never mind.

She smiled at me reassuringly as she saw me stiffen. "You shouldn't need to worry about it though. I know for a fact that Arthur would never _ever _replace you for someone else." Gwen put her hand on my shoulder. "You're the best he's got after all."

I looked into her eyes for a moment, then grinned back. "Thanks, Gwen."

She nodded once and turned to walk out into the hall again. "Well, I should be going now. Morgana's probably waiting for me to help her get dressed."

I nodded in response and watched her disappear into the other hallway, still tying to hold that grin on my face. But when she was out of sight, I frowned again and immediately sprinted towards the opposite direction.

~o~

I quickly made my way down a dark stairwell with a torch in my hand, then stopped as soon as I'd found myself staring into a vast cavern.

"Hello!" I panted, looking around.

No response.

"I need your help!"

After a few minutes, I heard the sound of rattling chains and flapping wings and saw the Dragon land right in front of me.

He chuckled. "You _always _need help. That's all you really ever tell me."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I _really _don't have time for this. You see, the issue now here is—"

"Arthur," the Dragon cut in. Then suddenly his face grew solemn, and he looked away. "I see…"

"You know what happened?" I asked apprehensively.

Abruptly, the creature narrowed his eyes at me. "_Of course _I do, boy! I know _all _that there is to know."

At that moment, my countenance grew bleak, and I closed my eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt him like that. I had absolutely no idea it was…"

The Dragon's amber eyes softened. "Of course you didn't, young warlock. But there is nothing you can do about it now to take it all back, for a new being serves the young Pendragon at this moment in time."

Immediately, I opened my eyes to gaze intently at him. "What do you mean there's _nothing _we can do! Who is this guy exactly, other than the fact that he's already taken my job?"

The creature closed his eyes, then spoke in a soft tone. "The boy's name is_ Lionel_, and that's about all I know at this point. Since he is one of the mere commoners without magic, my information is very limited on him. However, there is one thing I _can _say: Arthur seems to have grown some form of attachment to the boy—or _so one might think_."

I exhaled sharply. "There has to be something I can do. If he permanently replaces me, I won't be able to stay in Camelot anymore, and…I won't fulfill the destiny you promised for both Arthur and me."

Silence.

Then all of a sudden, the Dragon started laughing heartily, and I frowned at him. "What's so funny?"

He chuckled lightly for a moment, then looked at me. "You do realize that you can look at the situation in a _different _perspective." He snickered. "After all, the two of you are just like the sides of a mere coin."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

The latter sighed. "Young warlock—things are almost always not all that they seem. After knowing the Once and Future King of Camelot for more than a year now, did it never occur to you that the boy never acts unless there is a reason?"

I only stood there, perplexed by his vague words.

That was when he turned to leave.

"Wait!" I cried. "I still don't understand!"

But the Dragon had already begun flying mid-air. "That is for you alone to figure out, Merlin. You hold the key to the future." After that, he had disappeared into the higher parts of the cavern.

I hopelessly waited for a moment, questions riddling my mind all over again.

Then finally, I brought myself to leave the now empty cave.

~o~

I still pondered on the Dragon's words as I made my way back through the main hall.

And then I had bumped into Gaius, who had just left Morgana's room after giving her yet another sleeping draft. For some odd reason, her nightmares have been getting a lot worse lately...but never mind that.

"Oh—Merlin," he spoke unwaveringly, looking up at me. "Did you talk to Arthur?"

I didn't answer at that moment. From how things looked, it seemed that he had absolutely no clue about..._him recently. _So I only smiled at my guardian, not wanting to explain the few brief events leading up to now just yet.

"Well—how did it go?"

I was about to open my mouth to make something up, but suddenly one of Arthur's knights came walking towards us down the hall.

"Yes?" Gaius asked the latter.

The knight cleared his throat, then shifted his gaze between me and the physician.

"The King requests your presence in his royal court immediately."

~o~

The room was packed with the typical people—guards, other knights, maids, servants, and whatnot. As usual, Uther was sitting at his throne in the front with his _loving _ward at his side, and Gwen—she was standing next to me and Gaius.

I swallowed, looking around the room until I finally found Prince _Dollophead _a few feet away from where I was—with his new _servant _accompanying him, not to my surprise.

That was when the Dragon's words echoed through my head again, and I frowned, sinking deep into thought.

_Hm. Arthur not acting without a perfectly good reason for it, huh?_

I shifted my eyes between the two of them but saw nothing.

…_what damn reason would Prince Prat-a-lot have for doing this other than to just tick me off for—_

At that moment, it finally came to me in an instant. I held my breath as I watched Arthur put his arm around Lionel's shoulders and turn his head back to look at me with the most _outrageous, _devious smirk on his face…

_Well, then._

I snapped back to reality as soon as Uther started talking—something about it being an honor to have a special guest visiting Camelot—or at least that's what I thought I'd heard. Only then did I realize not long after that that two men I certainly didn't know were standing right in front of the King in the midst of his presence.

The older one was just about Uther's age, dressed as a nobleman, and had coal black hair that was thinning. But the other seemed to be around the same age as Arthur, probably a year older at best, and had mussy, platinum blonde hair and big, grey eyes. Not to mention the fact that his complexion was _flawless—_I mean, fair, and it was so blatantly obvious that this man was a knight, what with his shining armor and all.

…why the hell am I starting to sound like some love-struck princess right now? Ugh—that's really scary, even for me.

(insert sharp exhale here) Anyway…

I listened as he proudly identified the noble's name to be Lord Ector and the blonde knight's to be Sir Kay.

"Please treat them with the utmost respect during their stay here in this kingdom!"

Soon, everyone began to applaud with content smiles on their faces—and not long after that, I followed along with them, clapping my hands as well.

Out near the front of the room, Lord Ector turned around to greet the audience with a jovial smile on his face.

"It shall most definitely be our pleasure to be staying in this once and forever renowned paradise that we call Camelot!"

In that instant, the applause grew louder.

But not long after that, my gaze ended up wandering away from the nobleman, and soon I found myself looking at Kay, who seemed to be staring back at me, too, for some odd reason.

At that moment, I shrank back upon seeing his intent grey eyes and immediately glanced around to see if he was possibly directing his gaze towards somebody else that was probably standing behind me or something like that. But to my surprise…he wasn't.

It was very strange indeed, since I hardly even knew the guy. As soon as I diverted my attention back to the platinum blonde, he looked away.

Although I did notice Arthur stiffen all of a sudden from where he was standing. His jaw was clenched, and his bright blue eyes were immediately piercing daggers on his rigid face. At first, this made me wonder for a minute, but that wasn't until I realized…that he was glaring at _Kay._

With that, I couldn't help but smirk at the slightest, darting my eyes between the two. And Lionel—he looked so helpless in that situation and could do nothing but just stand there gawking at Arthur with what only seemed to be concern.

It made me…think for a second. Prince _Clotpole_ getting ticked off just by standing in the presence of this particular knight…how interesting could this get?

That was when I saw Kay roll his eyes and impatiently tap his father's shoulder, whispering briskly into his ear. Then Ector nodded once and turned to face King Full-of-himself.

I could just barely hear the noble's somewhat discreet request to Uther.

"That reminds me, _cousin—_"

My eyes widened. _Cousin?_

Uther smiled at Ector, directing his gaze upon him. "Yes, Ector? Is there anything else I can do for you and your boy here during your visit?"

The nobleman paused for a moment to briefly glance back at his son, who was staring back at him rather peevishly. Then he turned to face the King.

"Listen, Uther…I'm afraid we're short on servants assisting us today. You see, Kay here is in need of a personal manservant to help him prepare for his match today, but recently…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Would you happen to be able to spare us a replacement for the time being? Hopefully you understand—"

"I do," the King replied without hesitation. "We have plenty—more than enough here to spare. Just merely have young Kay pick one of his best choosing, and he may have him or her." With that, he arranged for all the servants that were not yet taken to assemble in a line behind Kay and Ector.

And then I chuckled to myself. _Not me, _I thought. _I've already got Art—no. _I sighed sarcastically when I saw his hand still wrapped around my _replacement's _shoulders.

_Right…I forgot I'm not taken anymore._

That was when it finally occurred to me, and my face lit up in an instant. _Not taken, huh?_

I raised an eyebrow, glancing over to see Arthur still fuming like an angry horse. It almost made me laugh to see him this ticked off.

I snickered softly, then composed myself, casually turning my head to whisper into Gaius's ear.

"Gaius—who's that standing over there?"

The physician paused for a moment, then spoke in a hushed tone. "That is Lord Ector, Uther's second cousin, and his son, Sir Kay—which makes him Arthur's second cousin as well." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Except the only difference here is how Arthur and Kay treat each other compared to the strong family relationship that Uther and Ector both share."

"What do you mean?"

Gaius opened his eyes to look at me. "What I mean is that Arthur is not very fond of his cousin as one would think, considering the two of them being members of the same family. The same goes for Kay as well." He shifted his eyes towards the two of them. "As you can see, Kay has been Arthur's number-one rival for as long as I can remember. Ever since they were young lads, they'd always been fighting over something."

"Like what?" I asked eagerly.

My guardian paused again, this time for a long moment. Then he whispered in my ear.

"Namely Uther's approval and acknowledgment."

At that moment, I looked at Gaius in disbelief. "_What? _But why would Arthur have to compete over something like that? He's already the King's son—he should have all the attention he could possibly get."

"Yes—but Kay is just as close to Uther as Arthur is. Even when he was a boy, he's treated him like his second son, as if he were Arthur's older brother. Yet at times, the King would often favor Kay over his own son during the days Ector would bring him over on his visits." He pursed his lips, turning to look at the front of the room.

I followed his gaze, watching as the prat narrowed his eyes at the platinum blonde, who had been rejecting each of the servants he was being offered so far.

"It's been exactly ten years since the two had last seen each other."

In that brief instant, I couldn't help but slightly feel bad for Arthur as I saw Uther and Ector laughing with each other.

"_I can't believe how much he's grown…"_

I winced, then began to shift my gaze towards the crown prince, intending to at least give him a brief look of reassurance—hopefully to prevent his already scrunched-up face from being stuck like that forever.

But I changed my mind immediately as soon as I saw that Arthur didn't look upset anymore. In fact, he was smiling again—under the comfort of his _adorable _little servant. The dollophead chuckled softly as he looked into Lionel's cerulean eyes, putting his hand on top of one of the latter's shoulders.

At that moment, I frowned with discontent, and glanced back to see that Kay was nearing the end of the line and was still yet to pick a servant for himself.

With that, I exhaled sharply, briefly shifting my eyes towards Arthur and Lionel.

_All right, then—two can play at _that _game. You leave me no choice, Arthur Pendragon._

I paused for a minute, then quickly began making my way down towards the line of unpicked servants and stood at the very end.

I could feel Arthur's eyes on me at that point, widened tenfold in complete and utter incredulity. And I also noticed his mouth drop open too—haha.

I waited as Kay continued to reject the other maids and manservants, trying hard not to laugh.

"No…no…no…yes—wait—_no_…"

I stood still as he got closer and closer to where I was standing.

"Too short…too fat…"

In my head, I began to think to myself. _Really now?_

Finally, he had come to me and paused.

It was silent for a moment, as he looked into my eyes thoughtfully. Then, after a few minutes, he glanced over at his father and back to smile triumphantly at me.

"You'll do."

"Wait!"

In that instant, we both whirled around to see Arthur pushing his way through the crowd—until was standing right next to me, panting.

Then he held up his hand and stood between me and Kay.

At that moment, the platinum blonde laughed scornfully. "Oh. Hello, cousin—so _good _to see you again."

The Pendragon narrowed his eyes and huffed. "_Likewise_," he replied sardonically, his voice dripping with acid. Then he glanced back at me with disbelief.

Kay grinned smugly. "What brings you here at this moment? Have you come to see me pick out my new manservant for the match the weekend?" At the same time, he looked over Arthur's shoulder to smile at me.

The Once and Future King frowned, stepping over to block his view.

"Hold it right there, Kay. You can't have this one."

_Great job referring to me as some inanimate, useless object, clotpole._

Kay chuckled gibingly. "And why not? Uncle Uther said I could pick anyone I wanted." He winked at me.

I shrank back slightly. "Er…"

At that moment, Arthur really got in his face, crossing his arms across his chest. "Because—he's already taken. He's _mine._"

In that instant, the platinum blonde crossed his arms as well. "Is that so? Then why in the world is he standing over here then?"

"Well—" I began to blurt out.

"Shut up, Merlin," the dollophead cut in, stepping beside me to grab the back of my head. He looked up at his cousin. "Because he's an _idiot, _that's why." He tightened his grip, turning to glare at me.

But that was when the King finally intervened. "Nonsense!" Uther boomed, approaching the three of us. He focused his gaze on his only son. "Arthur—you have absolutely _more_ than enough servants around to cater to your every need. Giving up _one _servant won't make any difference. It's completely absurd of you to bicker over such a trivial matter."

The crown prince's eyes widened. "But Father—"

"I shall hear no more of it," the King spoke, waving the comment away. "That's an order."

In that instant, Arthur shut his mouth and glanced at me coldly.

I merely turned away. _Your fault, not mine._

I watched as Uther approached Kay, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You may keep Merlin as long as you'd like. He is to tend to all of _your _needs for the upcoming tournament."

With that, the platinum blonde gave that triumphant grin again, smirking at his young cousin.

"Thank you, Uncle—I highly appreciate your generosity." He looked at me. "Come, _Merlin—_go gather your belongings. Your shift with me begins immediately. From this point on, you shall call _me _sire."

Kay turned to leave the courtroom, and at the same time, I followed after him, feeling everyone's eyes on me—especially Arthur's.

Before I stepped out into the hall, I couldn't help but glance back to see Lionel already at his side.

So as I left the room, I gave him a smug smile, leaving him to just stand there and gawk with utter aggravation and incredulity.

And I don't regret saying that ticking Arthur off like this…is probably the best idea I've ever had in a lifetime.

~o~

I chuckled as I walked into Gaius's chambers to grab my things.

Not long after that, Gaius opened the door, approaching me with an appalled expression on his face.

"Are you mad?" the physician began. "What did I tell you about the enormous amount of friction there is between those two?"

"I know," I replied unwaveringly, packing my bag.

At that moment, Gaius's eyes widened, and he walked closer to me. "Have you lost your mind, Merlin? Do you have any idea of what you've gotten yourself into?"

"Yes, Gaius," I spoke, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "Indeed I do. I'm giving Arthur a taste of his own medicine whether he likes it or not." With that, I began to approach the front door. "If he wants to make me jealous by replacing me with another servant, then it only makes sense that I do the same to him."

I swallowed, stepping outside and closing the door behind me.

The physician only stood there with a look of incomprehension, an eyebrow raised.

~o~

I sighed as I made my way towards the castle for Kay's chambers. Only then did I really begin to think for myself.

_Oh, who are you kidding, Merlin? Gaius is right: I really don't know what I've gotten myself into._

I walked up the steps into the main hall and continued.

_You don't even know this man. What if he's a lot worse than Arthur?_

In that instant, I almost shuddered at the very thought. But then I took a deep breath and composed myself.

_Look on the bright side, Merlin—at least now you're_ really _giving him hell__ at the same time._

I stopped as soon as I came across the first guest room.

~o~

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

Phew—done. -.-" Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, too. ;D

And I know what most of you might be thinking—OC alert. Yuck. :P _WRONG. _Lionel is merely a supporting character (no bias whatsoever XD) who will potentially play an important role in the story, while Kay is well…Kay. XD He is actually an adaptation of the original Sir Kay (the same with Ector) from the original _Arthurian _(hopefully I spelled that right… ^^")legend, like what they already did with Gwaine and Lancelot. ;-3 So yeah—consider him as a new character, too, and believe me—he _will _be a character indeed. XD

Not to mention the fact I included the almighty Slash Dragon! (LAWL XD) Yup—I just _had _to put him in this story too. -w- *flails like a fangirl*

Again, hoped you loved reading this fic so far, and please stay tuned for my next update! ^~^ _**(Reviews would be much appreciated. XD)**_

Chapter 3 is where the "downpour" comes in—if you caught my drift there. XD *sighs* Arthur tripping over an inanimate object (EPIC FAIL), Merlin enjoying the dollophead's pain with a grin on his face, awkward moments in Arthur's chambers…yeah. All soon to be written. ;D

Ja~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.


	3. Chapter 3: The Dreaded Downpour

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 3: The Dreaded Downpour**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), very _minimal _OOC, mild quarrels, and hints of citrus (as this story goes on ;3)

**Music on My Mind~ **Gives You Hell—All American Rejects (don't own)

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

So this is where it all gets _very_ interesting AND where the song actually plays its main part…thanks for the feedback so far, guys. One or two more chapters to go. XD

Dedication for this chapter and regards go to **Silver, Aka-chan, **and…you know who you are—especially if you had health class at my school last year. XD

Enjoy~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.

~o~

Today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

…

No, wait—that's a lie…kind of.

The minute Kay let me into his chambers, he already threw stuff for me to do—_literally. _I swear that his armor felt _twice_ as heavy as Arthur's.

"I want that cleaned for me by tomorrow morning…"

"Don't forget to…"

More like _do this, do that—_not like it was any different from Prince Dollophead himself. The only other thing was that Kay pretty much gave out the orders without giving me a chance to say anything about it or ask questions. I mean—he _could have_ cared less anyway.

But with Arthur…of course there was more than plenty of room to complain.

"Hey—are you listening to me, Merlin?" the platinum blonde asked impatiently, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

Not to mention the fact that this man was _a lot _more demanding than the prat I was used to.

I nodded once. "Y-yes, sire."

"Good," Kay replied curtly, tossing his leather boots on top of the enormous pile that I was already struggling not to drop. Then he walked past me, patting his hand on the very top of the pile and causing me to stumble a bit.

"We begin 4:00 sharp tomorrow morning, and don't forget to muck out _my _horses." After that, he walked out the door, leaving me all alone in the midst of his chambers.

I exhaled sharply, dropping the knight's junk. Then I stood there in silence, shifting my eyes from the equipment to the window, where I could just barely see Arthur doing a few rounds of target practice with Lionel.

_Poor kid. _I chuckled.

At that moment, I closed my eyes and thought to myself. _Hey—it could have been worse. At least _you're _not a dummy for the day anymore._

…_right?_

~o~

_(The next morning at __**3:30 **__in the morning…)_

"MERLIN!"

Before I knew it, there was a harsh rapping sound at the front door. "Rise and shine! We've got work to do before the tournament this weekend!"

I groaned, covering my face with my pillow. _Of course _you _do. _I let out an exhausted sigh.

Really since I used magic to do all those chores he gave me for the rest of the afternoon yesterday, one would _think _that I would be just fine and dandy the next day. Or at least—that's how _I_ thought it would turn out.

No problem at all, right? _WRONG._

It got a lot worse from that point on—he just kept on giving me _more _stuff to clean, in addition to having me muck out his stables a _second _time before actually going to bed at _2:00 _in the morning.

(insert sigh here) If it weren't for Arthur, I'd say _he _would be the biggest dollophead in the world—although at the moment, I could say that was all about to change. I mean compared to the prat I knew, this guy was more of a…_superprat._

_Knock, knock, knock, knock. _

To me in that instant, it was more like: _Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. _Somebody please hit me with a club right now.

Pretty soon, Gaius opened the door to my room and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Looks like you have a new wake-up call now, Merlin."

"_Merlin! Wake up!"_

More rapping could be heard from the front door.

I exhaled sharply and threw my pillow to the side, then stumbled out of bed to get dressed.

After a few minutes, I grabbed my bag and began to make my way to the door, Gaius watching after me.

"I warned you," the physician spoke with his arms crossed. "That boy's just as spoiled as Arthur is, if not more."

At that moment, I whipped my head back to face my guardian.

"Don't you dare say 'I told you so.'"

Gaius held up his hands in defense.

~o~

Of course the training field was empty. It was raining hard—probably all this week, too.

There was no one there except for me and _Master._

But we walked all the way over to the other side of the place because Kay "felt like there was more elbow room in that area" and had me follow along with him, almost breaking my back as I carried all of his excruciatingly heavy equipment.

"Here we are," the platinum blonde spoke in a light tone, giving me what was _supposed_ to be a pat on the back as I just barely managed to catch up to him. With that, my hands instantly let go of the metal objects.

_CLANK._

Kay put his hand on my shoulder, then took a few steps forward, looking up at the dark grey sky. After a few minutes, he turned around and pointed in the direction of his blue shield on the ground.

"Pick that up," he ordered, unsheathing his sword.

I frowned, grabbing the chainmail that had the engraved symbol of a gold lion etched into it and held it up.

…we all know how this is going to turn out.

~o~

_(An hour and a half later…)_

_CLANG! Clang! CLANG!_

"Come on, Merlin! Is that _all_ you've got?"

I exhaled sharply, quickly backing away from the knight as he struck his sword down on the shield.

"Put your back into it! I bet you aren't like this when Arthur's around! Let's go—I want to _win _this tournament!"

_Clink. CLANG._

After a while, I couldn't take it anymore and ended up stumbling backward until I fell on my back.

Just minutes after that, I began hearing waves of laughter not far from where I was.

I groaned, then glanced up to see Arthur and his new servant standing a few feet away from me. And it ticked me off to see that Prince Clotpole was laughing his head off, clutching his chest with his right hand and pointing at me with the other, while Lionel—well…I just barely noticed him shyly glance over at Kay.

But moving on from there…

I shifted my eyes back to Arthur who was still making a joke out of my agony and frowned. It only got worse from there when he got on one of his horses after taking his lance from the brunette.

"Merlin! Get up! We haven't got all day!" Kay impatiently called from the other end of the field. He sighed. "I _know_ you're still alive over there!"

I didn't listen. I only watched as Arthur caressingly stroked young Lionel's hair and glanced at me with mischievous eyes.

_Damn him._

Soon, the dollophead's horse whinnied, and he went over to the farther end of the training field to take his position. Poor Lionel was holding a tiny ring in his hands—which the Prince had to stab his lance through.

…I could still remember the first time I had to do that for him. It wasn't pretty at all.

"Merlin!" the platinum blonde barked again. In that instant, I noticed him walking in my direction. Then I glanced back at Arthur just to see him wink at me as he put his helmet on. I rolled my eyes and sighed, slightly shifting my gaze to see that someone had left a wooden bucket of some sort in the middle of the path the horse was supposed to run through.

And so, I thought of the most brilliant idea to get my revenge as Arthur Pendragon began to rush towards Lionel.

At the same time, Kay had taken my hand to pull me up.

_Perfect, _I thought to myself, grinning smugly.

"Neigh!" the horse whinnied as Arthur got closer and closer…to the bucket.

The platinum blonde grunted as he yanked me to my feet. "Good heavens, Merlin—what's the matter with you—"

Immediately, I fell forward and pretended to collapse on Kay's shoulders, clutching his arms.

At that moment, I glanced back just in time to see Arthur's eyes widen and his horse abruptly stop behind the bucket, sending him flying through the air until he landed on a nearby pile of mud—which I actually _didn't _expect.

"Oh _shit_—"

PLOP.

I let out a stifled chuckle, smirking impishly as the prat sat up to narrow his eyes at me, slowly shaking his head.

Hahaha—now tell me that wasn't funny.

"Are you alright, Lionel?"

In that instant, the grin disappeared from my face and I stiffened when I realized the platinum blonde's grey eyes were wide in horror.

At that point, I spoke in a soft tone. "Merlin," I began carefully. "And yes—I'm fine."

The next minute, Kay suddenly shook his head and let go of me to back away slightly. "Sorry about that," he muttered under his breath, hanging his head. Then he briefly shifted his eyes over my shoulder and turned to leave with a nonchalant countenance.

"We're leaving. I'm done for the day," the knight spoke in a low voice, gesturing for me to follow after him.

With that, I quickly picked up his belongings and began to leave. But before I did, I couldn't help but glance back to see Lionel staring back at Kay with sad eyes…

~o~

The next few days weren't all that bad—minus the enormous amount of chores, of course. Or better yet, it all pretty compensated for me every time I'd see Prince Dollophead stumble or suddenly spit water out of his mouth whenever he'd see me "in close contact" with Kay. And yes—this happened _every _day, especially during morning practice sessions.

It made me wonder, too—how Arthur could actually be that jealous of me. I was only his servant for what, a couple of years? But then again, this was my entertainment for once, and I hadn't been this amused since the day a troll decided to turn him into a donkey.

(insert snicker here) Now _that _was something I'd never forget. I'd _never _seen him fall so hard until now.

But although this was all happening, at the same time I couldn't help but slightly feel bad for Kay and Lionel, since they were pretty much caught in the middle of this rubbish.

I mean, every morning, when I'd see Prince Clotpole slip up or something, I'd end up seeing the two exchange brief but miserable glances with one another at times when we'd cross paths, the worst when we'd all sit together at dinner. I also wondered if perhaps the two were as close to each other as Arthur and I once were…sort of.

And so the week went on.

~o~

Friday evening, towards nightfall…

"Merlin—go fetch me my dinner, would you?"

I sighed. "Yes, _sire_."

~o~

On the way downstairs into the main hall, I couldn't help but glance out the window again.

Under the dim light, the square was absolutely empty…except for a shadowy figure that seemed to be struggling with the reins of a horse. At that moment, I peered in closer through the glass and recognized the silhouette to be Lionel.

Uh-oh. This couldn't be good.

~o~

The horse was still on a rampage when I ran outside.

"Do you need help?" I asked breathlessly upon approaching the brunette.

In that instant, the horse, which I could only deem to be one of Arthur's, raised its front hooves and whinnied, forcing Lionel to back away in fear. Immediately I grabbed the reins myself, pulling the creature back down on all fours and gently placing my hand behind it right ear to calm it.

"Sorry," I heard the brunette speak in a soft, timid tone.

I turned to see the latter's bright blue eyes glittering with pure innocence. At that moment, my own eyes couldn't help but soften at the sight. I wondered if this was what made Arthur act so kind to him.

I listened as Lionel continued in that same shy voice. He briefly shifted his gaze towards the horse. "H-he had me muck out the stables, but while I was doing that, this one got away." He hung his head. "I guess I just didn't tie the knot well enough."

I swear that puppy-dog face was enough to bring down even the _fiercest _man this world's ever known.

I sighed. "That's quite all right."

Suddenly I heard a loud clank from above, and I looked up behind my back, only to realize it came from Arthur's window.

"_Ow!"_

Just makes you _wonder.._.

I exhaled sharply, then turned to glance at Lionel. "Have you brought up his dinner yet?"

The brunette slowly shook his head. "No."

Another loud clank.

At that moment, I rolled my eyes, then pointed at the damn horse.

"You take care of that. I'll get it for you—I'm on my way to get Kay's supper anyway."

In that instant, his cheeks flushed a light pink and he briefly bowed his head before tending to the creature.

"Thank you," I heard him call as I turned to walk back into the castle.

"…"

~o~

I could still hear Arthur cursing at himself from the other end of the hallway.

_Clink. CLANG._

"Damn it!"

At that moment, a lot of thoughts were going through my mind as I approached his room.

And as soon as I noticed the door was open…

Oh my God.

I snickered, covering my mouth with my hand. It was _so _hard not to laugh right then and there.

Arthur was sitting on the floor—with puddles of water and his dirty armor all over the place—and he was _scrubbing _the floor itself with an old bucket next to him.

The Once and Future King…being _forced _to clean after himself. It was his fault for being such a spoiled prat—no wonder poor Lionel couldn't even keep up with his needs. He always did ask for too much.

And it was funny how the bucket had a tiny hole in it…not to mention how _ticked off _the prince looked at the same time.

I smirked as I watched the dollophead exhale sharply and frustratingly throw the cloth into the bucket of water. Then he stood up and closed his eyes, putting his hand over his face.

I chuckled softly. _So this is what happens when I leave him alone for _one _afternoon…_

After a while, he turned to leave, and I slightly backed away into the shadows behind me with his plate of food in my hands.

But that was when Arthur—out of one of the rarest occasions—actually _tripped_ over his helmet and fell—_flat _on his face.

At that moment, I reallyhad to struggle to keep myself from laughing my head off.

The blonde growled, clenching his fists, then let out an exasperated sigh. He got up, brushing his knees, and stormed out of the chambers that he left in disarray.

He didn't even notice me standing outside by the doorway.

As soon as I saw him disappear from sight, I quietly tiptoed into his room.

~o~

Everything was literally still a mess.

His armor and equipment were scattered throughout the room, the floor was wet and _still_ filthy despite Arthur's…"efforts," and scraps of food were left on the table—probably from _lunchtime_.

This place was a _pigsty_.

I sighed, putting the clotpole's dinner on the table near his bed. Then I walked carefully around his chambers, picking up at least a few of his things so no one would hurt themselves—and by that…well, you know who I mean.

I placed most of his stuff in one corner of the room, just like what I did with his armor that morning. But after a while…I came across something that really caught my attention.

It was one of my red scarves, but not just any ordinary scarf.

At that moment, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I picked it up and took off the one I was wearing. As faded as it was compared to the new one Gaius gave to me as a replacement, it was definitely the very same one I'd used when Arthur had taken that death potion a few months ago and the bottle containing its antidote shattered before I could even get to him.

Thank God that scarf was absorbent at the very least; otherwise he would have died along with what was supposed to be my destiny. It's a surprise he actually _kept _it since that day—no _wonder_ I wasn't able find it afterwards…

Until now, that is. I smiled a little, wishing things could go back to the way they were _before _all this happened—before we fought. I sighed, then started to put the rag in my pocket.

But that was when I began to hear footsteps in the hallway, and I stiffened. Immediately, I began to search frantically for a place to hide, for I had absolutely no idea what would happen if I were caught in the clotpole's chambers without any authorization whatsoever.

And so I had no choice but to quickly jump right under his bed.

In just seconds after that, the door opened.

Arthur took a deep breath as he walked past the threshold with his hand on his forehead.

"Lionel! Of _all _the—"

He grew silent all of a sudden, which made me shuffle a bit more into my hiding place.

Soon, I found him slowly walking around the room, carefully observing the slightest changes in his surroundings…the sound of his leather boots resonating throughout his chambers.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

I held my breath as he came in closer to where I was—hoping desperately that he wouldn't dare to look under the bed.

_Thump._

…did I ever mention how cramped up it was down here?

"…"

After a while, it was dead silent again.

"Hm."

I started to relax the minute he'd turned his back to make his way towards the other side of the room.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

…or so I thought. In that same instant, I saw a cloud of dust fall from the bottom of his mattress to the front of my nose, causing me to sneeze abruptly.

Almost immediately, Arthur rushed back towards the bed and leaned over it, searching for the source of…the sound.

"Who's there?" Prince Dollophead demanded, staring at the floor with cautious eyes.

I stayed quiet. At that moment, here's what I was hopelessly thinking:

_All right, Merlin—if you just keep your mouth shut, and pretend that he's not even there, maybe the ass will think he's hallucinating and go away because you're just _that _clever—_

Before I knew it, he'd already grabbed one of my legs.

_Rats._

"Show yourself," Arthur spoke in a stern tone.

In that instant, I sighed softly, then crept out the other side of the bed on my back and found myself staring flatly at his face.

At that moment, the clotpole smirked, then chortled mockingly at me. "Well, well, _well_—who do we _have_ here?"

I rolled my eyes and frowned.

Arthur sighed. "I didn't know you missed me _that _much, Merlin. Come to your senses yet? Or would you still rather receive yet another round of clobbering from Kay's left arm?" He chuckled.

I exhaled sharply, getting up from under the bed to dust my knees off. "Of _course _I miss you, Prince Prat-a-lot," I spoke in a sarcastic tone. I paused to look around the disheveled room. "But uh…don't _you _think you miss _me_ even more?"

Immediately, Arthur's grin disappeared. He let out a sigh, looking with me and scratching the back of his head at the same time. "Well…"

I chuckled, crossing my arms across my chest and raising an eyebrow.

He exhaled sharply, then focused his gaze on me again. "Never mind that. What are you doing here in the first place?"

In that instant, I pointed to his window, and he glanced out to see Lionel still leading one of his horses to the stables.

"I was nice enough to bring up your dinner for him," I chuckled. "Consider me a Good Samaritan."

At that moment, Arthur walked over to the windowsill to put his elbow down and place a hand over his forehead, letting out a defeated sigh. "So I see," he spoke in a dull tone, gazing down at the brunette.

After a while, awkward silence arose between the two of us.

"…"

"…"

Then without another minute of hesitation, I finally decided to take that chance to begin making my way out of his room.

I sighed and shrugged slightly, turning away at the same time. "Well then…it was great seeing you again, Arthur. But Kay's probably waiting for me about now, so I guess I should be getting back—"

"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave him as soon as possible."

That made me stop in my tracks right then and there. I paused for a second, then reluctantly glanced over my shoulder to see the latter's jaw and his clenched. His eyes were once again piercing daggers of ice.

_What?_

I swallowed for a moment. "…what was that?"

He exhaled sharply, then closed his eyes and lowered his head. "You're only making things worse by staying with him," the Prince spoke in a hushed tone.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

_All right then…_

"…"

"…"

Another rather long moment of awkward silence.

And that was when I started chuckling to myself out of nowhere, realizing only what could _obviously _be seen flat out from all of this.

In that instant, Arthur whirled around with a baffled expression on his face. "What?"

After that, I snickered and began to laugh. "Oh, don't tell me—I _know_ where this is going," I chuckled, looking up at him.

His countenance only grew more perplexed. He opened his mouth, stepping forward to point a finger at me.

But I took that chance to cut him off with a smug grin. "You _really_ miss me that much, don't you?"

At that moment, Prince Clotpole put his finger down and stood there with his mouth still open in sheer astonishment.

It was funny, really—how I actually caught him off-guard for once. Right now he looked like an idiot just standing there.

Yet another awkward minute of silence…from _him._

Arthur finally closed his mouth and shifted his gaze around his messy chambers with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. "Uh…"

I tilted my head at him, smiling even bigger.

After a while, he eventually brought himself to look back at me. The dollophead opened his mouth again, then pointed another finger at me. "Well…" he began carefully. He rubbed his hands together and thought for a moment, probably trying to choose his words carefully. Then he exhaled sharply and looked into my eyes.

"…no—I don't."

With that, I glanced at the floor for a minute, then nodded once to Arthur, shrugging. "All right. Then I'll be going—"

"_Wait._"

I sighed and turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

At that point, he was leaning on his knees with his head hanging and a hand held up in a stop position. Soon, he raised his head with hesitant eyes.

"Er…I mean I _do._"

In that instant, I couldn't help but cross my arms across my chest, opening my mouth to speak.

"Wait—no, I don't."

"_What—_"

"Wait! Wait! I mean I do miss—"

He groaned in frustration.

"No, no—that's not what I mean—what I mean is, I _don't_ miss you—"

I closed my mouth, shrugging.

At that moment, Arthur let out a sigh, slapping his hand over his face.

Silence.

Then…

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

There was another long pause from him.

"…"

After a few minutes, he slowly removed his hand from his forehead to look at me.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

The latter let out a sigh, lifting both of his hands.

"…can you at least be a friend and help me clean this up?"

In that instant, I opened my mouth yet again to speak in protest.

_Really now?_

"You aren't serious."

Arthur took a deep breath, rubbing his hands together again. "…yes. I am."

I stood there for a moment and slapped my own palm over my eyes, trying to let this all sink in through my fragile little mind with a perplexed expression on my face. Then after a while, I looked back to see him make a ridiculous imitation of Lionel's puppy-dog eyes.

"…please? Come now, Merlin—you're already poking holes into my self-esteem here," he added, waving his arms.

"Good," I replied instinctively as soon as I'd heard him say, "self-esteem." But after I'd heard the rest of the sentence and noticed that he was glancing down at something on the floor next to me, I hesitated for a moment. "Wait—_what?_"

In that instant, the Prince pointed at the bucket a few feet away from him. "In case you haven't already noticed, that bucket now represents my self-esteem. Just look at the hole you've already poked into it—you can see my feelings just slowly leaking out from there. Pretty soon there'll be nothing left if you keep standing there like a complete idiot."

"It's an _inanimate _object, for crying out loud!"

"Yes, Merlin—yes, it is when _you're _looking at it…and it looks as if you will never understand how I really feel."

"Your feelings? What about mine? You're the arrogant prat! How the hell am I supposed to know now that you're comparing your feelings to a mere bucket! And why are we arguing over something as trivial as this?"

"You mean I'm not important to you?"

I paused midway, eyeing Arthur suspiciously. "Are you feeling all right, Arthur?"

"_Wonderful._"

"More like _supercilious _to me."

"Big words there, Merlin. Are you absolutely sure you know what that means?"

I exhaled sharply, then turned to pick up the damn thing along with the wet cloth. _This has gone rather far enough._

"You know what? Fine," I replied nonchalantly.

The blonde nodded once.

With that, I approached Arthur and stopped when I was standing right next to him. Then I took the cloth and wiped it across his very face, dumping the bucket of water over his head.

At that moment, the dollophead did nothing but just stand there with the pail on his head like a helmet and sigh.

At the same time, I couldn't help but smirk at the latter, holding back a stifled laugh. "Sorry about that. I couldn't help it. I almost forgot I'm not the _only_ one around here who knows how to use a cloth and bucket. Now if you'll just excuse me—"

In less than a second, Prince Prat-a-lot came chasing after me like he was going to kill me—and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did.

But by the time I reached the very threshold of his chambers, I saw him trip over his _real _helmet on the ground and fall face-down on the floor.

I chuckled as soon as I saw this happen, then ran out into the hall, laughing until my face was about as red as a tomato.

Arthur groaned in frustration, slamming his fist on the floor.

_Clatter._

"MERLIN!"

~o~

Meanwhile, just outside the castle, Lionel sighed and hung his head, sitting on the front steps.

…_what am I going to do now? He still won't listen to me even when he's in danger…_

The brunette slowly shook his head and buried his face in his palms.

~o~

I was still laughing when I got back to Gaius's chambers, stepping inside and closing the door behind me.

"Have a nice time today?" the physician asked.

I took a deep breath, then chuckled. "Well—"

"Never mind that," Gaius cut in, approaching me in that instant. "What you have to tell me now can wait until later," he continued, putting his hand on my shoulder as he further took me into the midst of his chambers.

In less than a second, I noticed his face become serious, and that was when I immediately stopped laughing.

Something was definitely wrong with this picture.

"…what's wrong?" I asked with a grim countenance.

He looked at me with solemn eyes.

~o~

My eyes widened in horror as Gaius explained the whole story to me.

"Uther has made it a means of putting Arthur through the ultimate test in order to judge if he will truly succeed him as the next heir to the throne. If he fails…"

No wonder he's been training the same time as Kay every morning recently. Arthur was going to compete at the tournament tomorrow now under his father's decision, and what's worse, if he and Kay managed to reach the final round, they'd end up fighting each other—to the _death. _What was surprising was that Ector himself had agreed to these terms, too.

This might also explain Lionel's sullen behavior for the past few days...

Oh no.

"Why didn't he tell me before?"

"You are no longer his servant, Merlin. There would be no point in him telling you if you are helping his opponent."

"But what about Kay!" I began, slightly raising my voice. "He didn't tell me anything either—"

I stopped mid-sentence after he raised an eyebrow at me, and I sighed.

"I fear that Arthur may be in danger," Gaius continued in a grave tone, looking into my eyes. "Well, not just him, but Sir Kay as well. I just have the slightest feeling that something will definitely go wrong in this situation…"

I swallowed, turning away. "What can I do?" I spoke uneasily. "There's no way to stop this. It's impossible for them to _not _make it into the final round, even if I used magic. And neither Arthur _or_ Kay would listen to me if I asked either of them to withdraw from the match, and even if I ask Arthur to try reasoning things out with his father…oh, his skull's even thicker than his."

No answer.

I held my breath, focusing my gaze on my guardian. "Gaius, what should I do?"

But the old physician only lowered his eyes and slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Merlin—but I truly don't know."

~o~

"Hello!" I called out desperately into the empty cavern before me. "Please! I really need your help!"

Silence.

"Arthur's in danger!"

Immediately, I heard flapping wings and watched as the Dragon landed before me.

"What is it now, young warlock?"

I took a deep breath. "I need your help. Tomorrow Arthur's going to face Kay in a sudden death match, and…" I sighed, looking up at the creature. "What should I do? I _don't _know what to do. It's really bad if either of them gets hurt. They're both very important to—"

"Calm down, Merlin," the latter cut in, rearing his head.

"Is there any way to stop all this?"

"I'm afraid not. This future event is inevitable."

I swallowed, then spoke in an unwavering tone. "I heeded your advice this time. I took this in a different perspective. And _now _look where it's gotten me."

"Oh, so now you're blaming _me_?" the Dragon replied disbelievingly. "Listen here, boy—my words _are_ my words. How you interpreted them was completely up to you. Yes, you may have listened to me this time by taking this situation in another manner, but you went the wrong way about it. You of all people should have known that jealousy and envy are _never _the answers to a problem."

I closed my eyes and hung my head. "Well, it's too late for that now."

"No, it is not." I heard him sigh, then bring himself closer to me. "You can still turn the tables around, young warlock—if you take the time to think about it for just a second."

I opened my eyes and gazed intently into amber.

"Like I've told you before, you and the young Pendragon are like the sides of a coin—one cannot exist without the other," he began. "You must remember the fact that the two of you share the same destiny."

I listened carefully.

The Dragon paused, then looked over my shoulder. "For all I care, both of you may be polar opposites from one another. But you must learn how to put all your differences aside. Only then will you be able to help Arthur—by supporting him as much as you did before."

"But we're not exactly getting along at the moment."

"That is of no concern. What you are too busy bickering over is much less important than the future you will later behold," the creature replied. "If you cannot cast your differences aside for one chance, then there is no hope for the Once and Future King, and all will be lost."

I stared wearily down at my feet. "…but what about Kay? I can't let him die, either."

Of course not. He is just as important to your destiny as Arthur is."

"But you just said—"

"I know what I said," the Dragon cut in. "But Kay is also vital to Camelot's future. Later on, he will grow to become a key to Arthur's success as king. He will play a major role in fighting alongside you and him as you pursue your journey in uniting the land of Albion as one of Camelot's strongest knights."

At that moment, I eyed him carefully. "How am I supposed to save them both, then? It's impossible, especially since they're sworn rivals."

In response, the creature nodded once. "You're a clever boy—surely you'll think of something. Their fate is for you alone to judge, regardless of whether the friction between the two should dissolve or not. Arthur needs _your_ guidance, Merlin. He is nothing without you to assist him."

I gazed intently into the latter's eyes.

Then the Dragon snorted. "I've given you all the help you need."

With that, he began to leave again for the higher parts of the cavern.

I stood there with my mouth open, hands outstretched in front of me. "But you just gave me yet another one of your vague riddles that never make any sense at all!"

No reply.

I let out an aggravated sigh, then stormed out of the vacant cave.

~o~

_Great, _I thought to myself. _Just great. _

I frowned as I dropped my bag on my bed and began to get myself dressed in my night clothes.

_All this in _one_ damn day—_

But that was when I noticed that I wasn't wearing my scarf.

My eyes widened as I searched frantically for it, tossing my stuff here and there. Then finally I got the thought to look in my pocket…and held my breath when I pulled out an old red rag—stained with dried antidote.

_Uh-oh._

~o~

On the way to Arthur's room, I couldn't help but pass Kay's chambers. The door was open slightly, and my eyes softened when I saw the knight sleeping on the other side of the room with Lionel asleep beside him, his hands wrapped around the platinum blonde.

…but the brunette's cheeks were tear-stained.

I stood there for a moment to ponder on the words I'd heard from the Dragon earlier, then lowered my eyes and walked away.

~o~

If Lionel was in Kay's room, then that left Arthur alone in _his _chambers…and obviously he'd be asleep around this time, so I _guess_ I could probably drop in unnoticed and get my scarf back without waking him up.

…right?

~o~

Not much to my surprise, his door wasn't locked this time. I held my breath as I carefully pushed it open.

His room was _still _a mess. The bucket was empty, tossed over to the far corner along with the cloth. The helmet he had tripped on earlier now lay next to his nightstand, and the dollophead himself was sound asleep under red sheets, his bare chest all but exposed.

I looked around his chambers for a moment, then carefully crept over, quietly picking up his things along the way. Then soon I had reached his bedside and stood silently next to him as I watched the somewhat peaceful countenance he had on his face—minus the shadows under his eyes…and his dull snoring, that is.

I sighed as he fidgeted a little in his sleep and took that chance to bend down to retrieve my scarf that was visible right underneath his bed. Obviously I'd dropped it earlier today when I went to hide—haha.

But the very minute I grabbed my scarf…

I froze as soon as I'd heard Arthur groan softly and let out a yawn.

Immediately, I stood up to see the latter stir in his bed. He mumbled dazedly under his breath and smacked his lips, rolling over on his side with his fair complexion directly facing me.

Silence.

After that, I took a deep breath, wiping the beads of sweat that had formed at the back of my neck, then cautiously took this chance to turn with the intention of quickly leaving the room with the scarf in my hand—before I'd finally end up waking the idiot.

As inconspicuously as possible—

_Creak._

Oh, come on.

At that moment, I frantically looked over my shoulder to still see him out cold. Thank God.

Or so I thought.

I had just been about to take my first step out when Arthur yawned again, and suddenly I felt an arm wrap around my waist.

…and you have no idea how much I wanted to scream—but I didn't.

_Rats. _In that instant, I froze, closing my eyes and exhaling sharply. At the same time, I waited for his annoying voice to reach my ears or for him to throw something at my head for sneaking into his room. But to my surprise, it never came.

Just a snore.

I paused for a second, listening carefully to my surroundings. Then I glanced down at the motionless arm taking me hostage and looked back to see Arthur _still _sound asleep—_dead to the world, _for all I'd care.

At that moment, I looked back down at his arm, then gently tried to pry it away as I attempted to escape.

But at the same time, the dollophead let out a low groan and pulled me back, forcing me next to him onto his bed.

"Merlin…" he muttered under his breath.

I sighed. You've _got _to be kidding me. He wasn't even _half _awake when he did this, if any of it actually mattered. And every time I tried to get out of his bed, almost out of instinct, he kept pulling me closer and closer to where he was—up until the point where I already found myself caught in a bear hug, my head just about pressed up against his fair chest.

Needless to say…did I ever mention how _hard _his prick was at the moment?

I held my breath. Damn, it _was_.

Another loud snore from the _half-naked _Prince Prat-a-lot.

Oh God_._

~o~

For all I knew, he didn't do anything more in his sleep—other than just keep me captive in his arms. I'm surprised to say I was still even alive after _four hours_ in that bed of his.

_RUMBLE._

Half-asleep—yes, _half-asleep_—I managed to shift my gaze just enough to see the window, and droplets of rain begin to form on the glass.

Pretty soon, a flash of light almost blinded me, and I heard another low rumble from outside.

Then I glanced at the sleeping clotpole next to me. It was also a surprise how deep he could actually sleep.

_Snore._

I yawned softly, then closed my eyes, lying back into the latter's arms. All right—it was definitely awkward, but you couldn't help the fact that he was warm and that I was _cold._

Besides—no one would know until morning.

At the same time, before I finally went to sleep, I couldn't help but look up at Arthur's serene countenance one last time.

Yet I couldn't even believe…all the possibilities of what just might happen to that same face the day after tomorrow.

I swallowed, shuffling a little.

The Dragon was actually right this time: why _did_ we have to fight over something so trivial? Not that our lost parents weren't important to us…but still—it's not like either of us meant what the words we'd said.

With that, my mind began to sink into darkness.

_I've got to think of something by morning quick…but I don't think I'll be able to do this alone._

~o~

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

LAWL! Tell me you didn't think that was funny! XDDDD I'll tell you now that I absolutely _enjoyed _writing out that last part the most. -w-

*laughs maniacally* Ah…Arthur—you frickin' idiot. XD If I could give you a high-five right now, I definitely would—and then glomp you.

…and then give Merlin an even bigger glomp for being so adorable. -w-

*sighs* Yeah—I definitely had fun writing this chapter—and I swear I had to try very hard not to rush it due to the fact that I was getting really excited over all the funny parts. XD

But needless to say, it doesn't end there (referring to both the story AND the humor ;D). Next chapter, we finally have the _roaring thunder. _;-3 As in where Lionel makes a daring move to save his once master Kay, and where we'll end up having some lightning between Arthur _and _Kay over Merlin at the same time in one spot… X3

Stay tuned for the next update and I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter! =D _**REVIEWS would definitely be nice and much appreciated!**_XD

**Silver, Aka-chan, and everyone else: **YES. I just _had _to put in "the bucket" from Health… XDDD And just one and a fourth episodes of Season 3 of Merlin left to go! X3

*sigh* Till next time, loves~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.


	4. Chapter 4: The Roaring Thunder

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 4: The Roaring Thunder**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), very _minimal _OOC, mild quarrels, and hints of citrus (as this story goes on ;3)

**Music on My Mind~ **You're the Voice—John Farnham (Yes—from Colin and Bradley's famous behind-the-scenes vid. XD And I don't own this either. ^^")

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

Finished Season 3 of Merlin and sulking that Season 4's not coming out until 2012… :P But still fangirling and looking at recs and stuff—all that is ArthurxMerlin! OwO

Other than that—not much to say, and 'prolly only one more chapter or so to go after this. XD Still gets even more interesting from this point forward. ;D

Enjoy~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.

~o~

Meanwhile in a castle near the Forest of Gedref, two shadowy figures could be seen talking to each other in a throne room that was dimly lit with candles. One was sitting in the very throne itself, while the other was humbly bowing his head before him.

"My men are ready, my lord," the standing silhouette spoke in a dull tone. "We serve only under your command."

The man who he was speaking to nodded once with approval, scratching his chin intriguingly. "Excellent," he replied in a menacing voice. "Then it shall soon begin. You shall ride for Camelot tomorrow evening after the tournament and bring me this knight that Uther has been known to be treating so dearly—the one and only cousin of my sworn enemy Arthur Pendragon. Make no mistakes and return to me with him in hand as soon as possible. If Arthur himself or any other fool dares to stand in your way, do not hesitate to kill them all—just as long as I have Sir Kay _alive _whatever it takes."

He chuckled darkly. "In my hands, neither Uther nor his blasted son will realize what hit them until it is too late, for Camelot will have already fallen." With that, he tossed a tiny sack of gold to the latter.

The shady figure smirked devilishly, then got down on one knee. "Yes, King Cenred."

~o~

The next morning…

Yawn.

"…"

"…"

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"…you're in my bed."

"…I can see that."

"…"

"…"

"…Merlin?"

"Yes, Arthur?"

Sigh. "You better have a _perfectly _good explanation for this."

"Er…"

"…and _what_—why the hell are we in _this_ position!"

"Well—"

(insert sound of scratching record here)

You see, that's what _would _have happened if Prince Clotpole had decided to wake me up. And frankly, I rather did expect something like this to happen, more or less Arthur pushing me off the bed with his foot and laughing at me, but very much to my surprise…he didn't.

And _that _itself…was definitely odd, indeed.

When I woke up, I noticed the sun had already risen, and I actually had a pillow under my head this time. Then I got up to see that _someone _had pulled the covers over my shoulder, leaving me alone to sleep for a good eight hours' worth, and for _once_ in my life, I was well-rested.

How awfully _nice _of Prince Dollophead to do something like this…

But that was when I realized that he was nowhere to be seen, and I held my breath.

At the same time, that was when I finally realized what time it was…and what _day. _

_Damn it, Merlin—reality check._

…oh _no._

Immediately, I sprang out of bed, frantically sprinting out the door with wide eyes.

~o~

No—no, no, no, _no._

I ran as fast as I could—down the stairs and out the front door. On the way, I saw that Kay's chambers were empty too, which made me worry even more.

As I rushed down the steps outside, I ended up bumping into Gaius.

The physician's eyes widened both in disbelief and anxiety. "Merlin!" he began in an incredulous tone. "Where in the world haveyou been for the past few hours?"

"It's a long story," I exhaled, my eyes darting in different directions. "Where's Arthur? I need to talk to him."

"He's already over there preparing for his first match," Gaius replied briskly as he led me down the steps. "And so is Sir Kay." He looked apprehensively into my eyes. "You must hurry, Merlin, if you are to do something about this situation. The tournament is about to begin."

In that instant, I held my breath, then sprinted headlong in the direction of the arena.

"Be careful," I heard my guardian call from behind.

~o~

I ran past the other tents until I came across Arthur's—a red and gold one with the emblem of a dragon on the front. Immediately, I darted inside, only to see that no one was there.

"Arthur!" I called desperately, looking around. Then I exhaled sharply and rushed out towards the stadium to see that the dollophead was already in the middle of his first battle.

The crowd was cheering in the distance.

At that moment, I knew I had no choice. I watched helplessly as all this was happening.

That was when I heard shouting not far from where I was, and I turned to see Lionel and Kay a few feet away from me, yelling at each other.

"You can't do this!" the young brunette cried.

"Who says I can't?" the platinum blonde barked back, waving his arms. "You don't understand! I've got a reputation to protect. Of course I won't back down—they'll all think of me as a coward. Father and Uncle would be disgraced!"

"No—it's _you _who doesn't understand, Kay! Open your eyes already!" Lionel spat out desperately, hot tears of frustration streaming down his cheeks.

But the knight only shook his head and raised his voice even more. "You've no right to tell me what to believe in or what I should do, Lionel, because no matter which way you go about it, you're always be nothing but a servant to me!"

At that moment, the brunette was silent.

"Besides—it's perfectly obvious to me that you've already got a _new _master anyway, so why don't you just shut the hell up and go help _him _instead! I'll bet _he'll _listen to any of the other rubbish you have left to say!" Kay added, acid dripping in his tone.

I paused, then watched as poor Lionel slowly backed away from the latter and then quickly turned to run away, rushing past me.

After that, the platinum blonde let out an aggravated sigh, putting his hand to his forehead. Then he glanced over to look at me with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Well, don't just stand there, Merlin! Where the hell have you been?" he shouted with irritation. "Get your ass over here right now!"

In that instant, I took a deep breath, then walked over to approach Kay.

He still went on, literally yelling in my ear. "Come on! I'm fighting in five minutes! _Five_ minutes, Merlin! Do you even know how long that is?"

Even I knew this _really _wasn't going to be good.

I didn't answer, merely walking into his tent with a somber expression on my face.

…damn it all.

~o~

_(Two hours later…)_

Arthur's last match was just about to end. If he won this, he would move on to the final round.

Shing. CLANG, CLANG, clang. _Thump._

At that point, his opponent had already cornered him.

The audience ooh'd in that instant as the other reared his arm to strike at Arthur.

"Yah!" he cried.

Huh. Of course from a general point of view, it looked like it was going to be over, but because I'd known Prince Clotpole so well now, I could only expect at that moment that he would make his move—here and now.

…hey—don't look at me. I couldn't do anything about it anyway—if I tried to interfere with my magic, I'd only end up getting Arthur killed, and it would be the same for the rest of his rounds.

I watched as he effortlessly dodged his opponent's attack and punched him right in the face. Within seconds, the latter had collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, the crowd began to cheer and clap their hands. But I only dreaded for the worst that was going to happen in the end, and so I stood there with a bleak countenance, still thinking desperately of a way to prevent this fate from happening.

Then simultaneously from out of the blue, a mental image began to burn through my mind—of Arthur lying on his back on the ground, Kay piercing his sword right through his very chest…

I shuddered, my eyes bulging and sweat drops begin to form on the nape of my neck. It was almost like one of Morgana's nightmares…and hopefully this wouldn't come true. I swallowed and looked up to see the idiot still waving his hand at his audience with a triumphant grin on his face.

_This has to stop._

As soon as he left the field, I ran up to him as fast as I could.

"Arthur! I—"

"Merlin. Shut up."

"But I didn't even say anything yet—"

_But_ before I could say anything more, he abruptly raised a finger at me and spoke in an unwavering tone. "No—I already know what you're going to say, and I want you to end it right there."

I closed my mouth in that instant, as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed.

"At this point, it's already obvious to me since you _always_ say the same damn thing over and over again for every tournament. And the answer is _no_—I will not back down from this competition, regardless if you think I am in danger or not. Things are a lot different this time around, and one thing's for sure: I definitely will _not _have Kay laugh in my face after this tournament." He paused for a moment, looking into my eyes. "I'd only be a fool to listen to you now." With that, he walked past me towards his red and gold tent.

I sighed and shook my head in defeat. _Of all times, why must he still act as stubborn as an ass?_

~o~

The crowd roared even louder when Kay had finished off his own opponent with a striking blow against the back of his neck.

And that finally did it—he was facing Arthur in the last fight.

But this didn't even faze the platinum blonde at all, for he was still as bigheaded as usual. He dropped his sword, raising his arms with an even bigger grin on his face and walking around to blow kisses to the women who were sitting near the front.

I rolled my eyes. All right—now _that_ was definitely too much—even if Arthur walked over just to kiss Gwen on the cheek.

I let out a sigh as the ladies cooed and blushed back at the superprat, then glanced back to see Lionel watching not far from me.

His big, blue eyes that had once been filled with innocence and shyness were now dulled with pain and anguish. I watched as he clenched his fists and exhaled sharply, turning to leave.

After that, I couldn't help but go after him as he left the arena. Although when he did, I ended up overhearing him mutter softly to himself.

"Never did listen to me in the slightest…even when he's in _danger, _for crying out loud…"

At that moment, I stiffened upon hearing those last few words, then winced as the brunette hung his head and walked away. And this had probably been the first time I've seen him so…_unhappy_.

I swallowed, thinking to myself at the same time.

This made me wonder…what the hell did he mean by'in danger?'

~o~

_(An hour later…)_

"A toast to Prince Arthur and Sir Kay advancing into the final round!"

At that moment, the guests of the royal court clamored in agreement, then clanked their glasses together and drank.

I frowned as I watched Arthur laugh with his fellow knights, pretending to take everything so lightly, when in reality, it really wasn't like that for him on the inside. It really made me want to think he was stupid to enter such a situation where he could very much end up losing his own life—all for the mere sake of protecting his pride.

Now _that _was Prince Clotpole for you, although what happened this morning still made me _wonder…_

(insert sigh here) Never mind—moving on:

For once, I actually wanted to walk over there and hit him for being such an arrogant ass, but I stopped myself as soon as I heard an outburst of laughter from the other side of the room and saw Uther laughing with Kay, patting him on the shoulder.

At that moment, my eyes softened as Gaius's words began to ring through my mind.

"_Kay has been Arthur's number-one rival for as long as I can remember. Ever since they were young lads, they'd always been fighting over something. Namely Uther's approval and acknowledgment."_

In that instant, I watched as Ector came back with a drink in his hand and continued to chat with the two of them.

At the same time, I couldn't help but notice Arthur's expression change slightly as well. He frowned, then went back to talking to his other friends.

I sighed and frowned, too, glancing out the window to see Lionel sulking outside on the front steps with his head drooping. With that, I briefly shifted my gaze towards Kay and quietly left the King's feast.

~o~

I took a deep breath, then calmly approached the brunette, who had his face buried in his palms.

I sat down next to him and looked up at the night sky, which was actually filled with stars for once.

"It's quiet out here…isn't it? I guess I can understand why you decided to come outside instead of staying for the feast."

I turned to see Lionel raise his head slightly. "…yeah. I guess so."

For a few moments, there was silence between us.

Then the blue-eyed brunette had spoken in a hushed tone.

"…Merlin?"

"…yeah?"

At that moment, he paused for a minute. "Can I…ask you a question?"

I hesitated slightly, glancing at the latter. "Sure."

For a minute, it was silent, except for the sound of crickets chirping.

Then he spoke again, his voice faltering. "Do you think…that it's wrong for me to try to protect a friend…even when he claims he doesn't need it?"

In that instant, thoughts began to riddle my mind, and I looked intently at him. "…no—that's not wrong at all."

No response.

I lowered my eyes a little, contemplating to myself. "Why?"

More silence.

Then finally, _that_ question came to rise.

"This is about Arthur…isn't it?" My own voice wavered at that last part, because I definitely knew it really wasn't him he was referring to. I cleared my throat, attempting to cover it up.

However…well, you could say it quite failed.

After a few seconds, Lionel stirred and raised his head to look up at me with fixed eyes.

~o~

"When we left home from the tournament, I rode along with Kay and his father. I was his personal servant at the time, so I had no choice but to come with him," the brunette began.

I listened carefully in that instant.

Then he lowered his eyes and frowned. "Along the way to Camelot, we'd stopped for a rest in the woods and camped out for a brief moment. That was when I had the feeling that we were being followed and watched." He winced. "Later on that same night, when Kay and Ector were asleep, I heard voices coming from afar, and I followed them from behind the bushes to see a suspicious group of men, who were planning to kidnap Kay right after the tournament ended."

Lionel closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "I wasn't able to hear the rest of their conversation, but I definitely knew that they meant harm to us. So early the next morning, I didn't hesitate to tell Kay all about it before we continued on our journey."

"What did he say?" I asked.

At that moment, the brunette paused, his big blue eyes intent. "…he wouldn't listen to me." He frowned again. "And when I'd tried to stop him from leaving, we ended up getting into a fight with each other, and I couldn't help but run away after I'd been so hurt."

There was another long pause. "Somehow, in my haste, I'd ended up stumbling into Camelot, and not long after that, your Prince found me unconscious on these very steps."

I briefly glanced down at the cement I was sitting on.

Lionel let out a sigh, then looked helplessly into my eyes. "Merlin—I know what you've been thinking all this time, but let me tell you this: I swear I didn't mean to come in between the two of you. I truly meant no harm—I just needed help. I had no one else to turn to." He swallowed. "That same morning when I'd passed out, he was the one who'd found me in the first place and tried to help me by giving me food and water. I didn't realize who he really was until…until much later on when I found out the King was his father. That was when I'd tried to explain everything to him, in the hopes that he could probably do something about it to help me, but ever since Uther entered him into the competition, too, it all changed. And…it was all so confusing. I wasn't able to tell him anything, and then things got even worse since Kay actually arrived in Camelot, and he misunderstood that…" He exhaled sharply, slowly shaking his head. "Merlin—I really don't want either of them to get hurt in the final round tomorrow_. _If any harm comes to Kay, I would never be able to forgive myself. I—"

In that instant, I took the other's shoulders, a cautious expression on my face. "It's okay. I understand. I don't want tomorrow to happen, either. Arthur is just as important to me, too."

The brunette stared back at me with wide eyes.

I grimaced. "What matters now is that Kay's in trouble, and we need to help him fast. Have you seen any of those men since then?"

Lionel paused, then spoke in a worried voice. "The last time I saw them was earlier near the other tents—I saw one of them spying on Kay and another doing recon on Arthur. And I tried to warn Kay again during the tournament, but he still wouldn't listen to me. He wouldn't even _look _at me, Merlin. What should I do? I don't have anyone else. I don't _know _what to do when he won't let me help him myself…"

I closed my eyes. "Then that means both him and Arthur are going to be involved in this, too, either way…"

At that moment, the latter shrank back slightly. "Why? Arthur won't listen to you, either?"

There was a long pause.

I frowned, then exhaled sharply. "Look—I'll handle this, Lionel. None of it is your fault—you don't deserve to get involved in a situation like this. Don't worry too much—you just stay put. I'm sure that hopefully Kay will learn to see reason in time as soon as this is all settled." I paused, then began to stand up. "But first I've got to tell Arthur before it's too late." With that, I quickly ran back inside, leaving him alone.

~o~

My eyes darted around in different directions as I searched for Prince Dollophead—hoping the feast was already over at this time. Even if he didn't bother to listen to me the first time around, he still needed to know what was going on.

Finally after a few minutes, I'd found him in one of the hallways walking to his chambers, but there had been something very different about him this time, which was why I stayed right where I was.

His countenance was somber, unlike earlier at the feast, and for some reason, he was slumping…a bit.

That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Gaius, who had a concerned expression on his face.

He paused for a moment, then spoke in a hushed tone.

"Merlin…until when are the two of you to go on like this any longer?"

I didn't answer. Instead…I could only stare down at the floor with weary eyes.

Then my guardian led me to look back in Arthur's direction as he sullenly opened the door to his room and stepped inside.

At that moment, I couldn't help but wince.

"He needs you now more than ever, regardless if you both are still fighting or not. At some point, it has to end soon, for I worry of what will happen if Arthur decides to continue along with tomorrow's match when he is in this condition."

With that, I frowned and let out a sigh.

"…I know."

~o~

I knocked on the door.

"Come in."

_Creak._

I stepped through the threshold to see Arthur on the other side of the room. He was standing by the windowsill, staring hopelessly into the darkness of the night with perplexed eyes.

"...given up yet?" I asked nonchalantly.

The latter briefly glanced back to look at me, then shifted his gaze back towards the glass and sighed.

"…what could you _possibly_ want from me now, Merlin?"

I swallowed, then stepped closer to him, speaking in an unwavering tone. "You really don't have to go through with this, you know."

At that moment, he exhaled sharply and buried his face in his hands. "You still don't understand, Merlin. I've already told you before—my father's counting on me to be able to defeat Kay. It's the only way to prove myself to him."

I stiffened, holding my breath. " But it wouldn't prove _anything_ if either of you got hurt in the process. You should know that yourself."

"Why should you care when this isn't even _your _problem? Or better yet if it matters, why didn't you go help _Kay _instead of me?"

That almost struck a cord in the very center of my heart. I lowered my eyes. "Because…I don't know. I'm just trying to do what I think is right."

Arthur let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, there's absolutely no room for idiocy here in this situation. My problems are personal to me alone and to none of your concern."

"I'm _not _an idiot."

Silence.

I paused, hesitating a little. Then I threw my head back and exhaled sharply. "Why go through with this when you obviously have a choice? It's not even your father's decision to make, Arthur—it's yours."

"…I know that."

"Then…what?" I shrugged. "Are you saying here that you _want _to fight your cousin to the death tomorrow?"

There was a long pause.

"…of course not."

"But that doesn't make any sense then. Can't you reason things out with him like usual?" I asked questioningly. "Why can't you just tell him flat-out what _you _want?"

That was when Arthur whirled around to look at me with frustrated eyes. "Because—I don't _know _what I want, Merlin."

After that, more silence filled the void between us.

He let out another sigh, putting his hand to his forehead. "I just…I don't know what to do anymore. What's done is…done." He slowly shook his head.

At that moment, my eyes softened.

",,,look. I didn't mean to come all the way up here just to argue with you again."

No reply.

I took a deep breath, then put my hands over my face and started to carefully explain everything to him in the _slowest _manner. "The only reason I'm here is because there's actually someone other than you who's in real danger right now. And if you don't start listening to me soon—"

Suddenly, whinnying and the sound of clattering hooves could be heard from outside, and the two of us froze in an instant, our eyes wide.

Immediately we ran out of the room and down the hall.

~o~

By the time we reached the front steps, a black carriage could be seen rushing towards the gates, its driver unknown. But then a few men could just barely be seen from the small window in the back, struggling with a figure slightly smaller than them.

_Oh no. We're too late._

In that instant, I began sprinting after the stagecoach as fast as I could, Arthur following right behind me.

Finally after a while, I managed to at least get a few feet closer to the tiny window and called to the figure.

"Kay! Hold on!"

At that moment, a muffled cry could be heard from the inside, and pretty soon I saw the latter wriggle until he was able to press his face against the window, his mouth covered with a tied up rag.

But much to my surprise…it was not Kay who was being held against his will in that carriage.

A mess of brown hair and fearful blue eyes.

It was _Lionel_…

From over my shoulder, I heard Arthur shout to the guards in the front.

"What the hell do you think you're doing! Close the damn gates already!"

Immediately, the driver cracked his whip at the horses, goading them to trot on even faster and leaving us behind. And before the guards at the front could even move to shut the gates, they'd already been struck down by the other men hanging from the sides of the carriage.

"Neigh!"

I exhaled sharply. Then a last and final desperate attempt to try to keep them from continuing off into the darkling woods, I tried to close them off myself—my eyes briefly changing from sapphire blue to bright amber.

But even so, it was all too late, for they had already gotten over to the other side before the iron gates could even drop.

Arthur and I were left to stay behind as we helplessly watched the black stagecoach escape into the night, Lionel being pulled to the back of the wagon and away from the window.

"No!"

At that moment, the Pendragon growled in frustration, banging his fist once against the metal. Then he sighed under his breath and leaned his forehead against the gate in defeat.

…but that wasn't until a foreign object on the ground caught my eye, and I bent down to pick it up, holding it gingerly in my hand.

A belt buckle of some sort that bore an emblem that was seemed so strikingly familiar—and without a doubt, it was…

Almost immediately, I glanced up at Arthur, whose eyes were wide and bulging just like mine.

He swallowed, then spoke in a low, dull tone.

"Cenred."

~o~

I held my breath and soon bolted back towards the castle along with the latter.

_He wasn't joking…he _really_ wasn't joking…_

"Merlin—get any help you can find! I'll go get my father!" Arthur shouted as we rushed up the steps.

I nodded once, then ran in a different direction, up the stairs, and into another hallway.

By that time, the warning bells were ringing all throughout Camelot, and before I could even realize it, I found myself sprinting towards _his _chambers.

As soon as I opened the door, which actually wasn't locked, I found the platinum blonde sitting up in his bed looking at me with apprehensive eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked briskly.

In that instant, I exhaled sharply and swallowed.

"…Lionel's been kidnapped."

~o~

For a few minutes, nothing but silence filled the space between the two of us.

I took that time to keep talking. "Come on—we've got to help him. Arthur's already arranging for an audience with the King. We should go if we want to save him in time."

Still no response.

I gulped, then watched anxiously as Kay closed his eyes and lowered his head slightly. Then finally he spoke in a hushed, dull voice.

"…why must his fate come to my concern…when mine should not have had anything to do with his in the first place?"

At that moment, I stared at him intently, my mouth almost forming into a straight line on my face.

"Because…it should have been _you._"

Immediately, the platinum blonde whipped his head up to look at me with horrified eyes.

~o~

Even from outside the throne room, I could hear Prince Dollophead already having a row with King Full-of-himself.

"How dare you wake me up in the middle of the night over a mere servant that has absolutely no means to this kingdom whatsoever! I should have you thrown in the dungeon for all I care!" Uther roared.

Immediately, Arthur shot back a reply. "Sire, be reasonable here in this situation. He is just as important as all the others present! Please—give him a chance. He is plainly a human being like everyone else in this kingdom, and he has done nothing for us but serve under great loyalty. He has done no harm ever since his arrival. Lionel is just a boy. Please have some reason at the very least."

"I will not have my knights go out in Cenred's territory for a purpose so trivial!" the King barked back. "Heaven knows what would happen while you are all gone!"

In that instant, the Prince stood silent.

Uther stood up from his seat, looking down at the latter with stringent eyes. "Cenred is our sworn enemy to Camelot. Do you _think_ I'd risk the best of our resistance over a damn servant boy? Absolutely _not!_" he finished, breathing heavily.

After that, not another word was spoken.

But that was when Kay actually stepped in for us—literally standing alongside his cousin, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"I'll go after him. You need not have to risk your knights, my dear Uncle."

Immediately, Arthur grabbed my arm, and yanked me over to whisper briskly in my ear. "I told you to get _help_, Merlin! _This_ is _not _help!"

I only stood there, searching for words. Then finally I spoke in a slightly sheepish tone. "I thought this would _his _business, too—"

"Gah!" he hissed under his breath, shoving me aside.

At that moment, Uther's eyes became filled with concern upon hearing his nephew's words. Then he spoke carefully as if he were listening to his own words at the same time.

"No—above all, I most certainly will not risk losing you, either. Never in my life. It is absurd, and it is out of the question—"

"Lionel was my sole responsibility," the platinum blonde cut in unwaveringly before the latter's voice could escalate even more. "He has served me well for more than three years now as he had once been, and always will be my servant. And because of how irresponsible I myself have been for the past week or so, he has been taken by this King Cenred when it should have been me instead of him. Because of me, he alone has put his own life in great jeopardy for the sake of my safety—and I owe my life to him." He winced. "Please let me take my own matters into my own hands."

The King only stood there in awe, and he was all but speechless. I also noticed Arthur glance over at him in disbelief.

_Yes, clotpole—Kay speak words. Very good words. Durr…_

But then again, I guess I could say I was surprised myself to see the superprat acting this…chivalrous. I mean…him? Acting _responsible?_

And this was not to mention that Kay's expression had never faltered once, his gaze very much intent.

The room grew quiet all of a sudden.

Then after a while, there was a fuss from behind the crowd in the room, and soon Lord Ector came in through the middle of the royal court in his night clothes.

"What is all this commotion, Uther?"

At this, the King actually hesitated for a brief moment, glancing at his dear nephew. Then he closed his eyes and spoke prominently.

"It appears that a humble servant of Camelot has just recently been abducted by King Cenred, cousin," he began in a clear tone. "And your son here wishes to go after him, claiming to be taking his specific responsibility for him into account as he has just been said to have once served under your loyalty." He paused for a minute. "But it seems that I alone cannot make the decision of whether to grant him approval of this or not." He looked up at the latter. "After all, you are his father, Ector—it all comes down to you. Hopefully you will be able to help me here."

In that instant, everyone stepped aside to make room for the noble. Then Lord Ector himself closed his eyes and took a deep breath, stepping forward to stand next to his only son and put his hand over his shoulder.

"Good heavens, Uther—one morning for all this rubbish," he spoke, opening his eyes to glance at his son's proud face. "You of all people should already know that for this, I will have only but one answer…and that is to support my own son in his path to becoming a true knight. If he wishes to take action and responsibility here in this situation, then I will wholeheartedly agree with him for the very reason in that he may do so. As long as Kay believes that what he is doing is truly the best for him, then it is indeed the best for him."

With that, he turned to look into his son's eyes and nodded once.

At this, the platinum blonde's grey eyes softened. "…thank you, Father." He smiled, then shifted his gaze back towards the King.

"Well, Uncle?"

In response, Uther closed his own eyes and let out a sigh. "Very well—if it should really lead you to become the noble knight your father claims you shall be, then…_fine_."

Kay nodded once and bowed. "Thank you, sire."

In that instant, both Arthur and I managed to relax a little, taking a deep breath.

But that wasn't until the King had decided to open his mouth again.

"However, this can only be on one condition."

Almost immediately, I held my breath.

_Really now?__ What more could you possibly want?_

I glanced up to see Prince Clotpole stiffen where he was.

"...I still will not risk letting you go out there alone. Cenred is a ruthless man, and he will show you no mercy once you are in his very sight." At that moment, he shifted his gaze over to Arthur.

Uh-oh. Even I knew the circumstances couldn't be good now.

"Arthur—you will accompany Kay on his journey, along with your own servant," he declared, glancing up at me. "You will do whatever it takes to make sure he and Lionel are brought back safely."

Immediately, our eyes widened.

_Oh—he still thinks I'm _his _servant. Wonderful, _I thought, chuckling weakly to myself. _And now he's leaving me to go and deal with both the biggest prat in all that is known to man… _I shifted my eyes over to the platinum blonde.

…_and another that's even more of a prat than the other. Talk about the odds going against you, Merlin._

I let out a defeated sigh, slowly shaking my head.

But then again—it was a lot worse for Arthur himself, since he actually had to be forced into working together with his number-one rival who was…well, obviously recorded at the very top on his hate list.

No, really—I mean it. It was definitely obvious. You could see the fire burning in his—

"What!" the dollophead exclaimed, his eyes bulging with incredulity. "_Father_—he's perfectly well enough to handle Cenred and his men. Better yet, why can't _I _just go?You of all people perfectly know as well as I do that I _cannot, _in any possible manner known to man, work with this—"

"Good heavens, you needn't worry," Uther replied, blatantly shaking off the other's comment. "Regardless to say, of course you two will still be fighting in the final round of the tournament—which is why I will only give you until the next sunrise."

At that moment, Arthur's mouth dropped open.

I chuckled softly. _Way to make things even worse._

With that, the King raised his hand and sighed. "No more—dismissed."

But Prince Prat-a-lot still couldn't believe it. He stood there, appalled, turning to face Kay with an incredulous look on his face. Then he shifted his gaze towards me as I approached them both, innocently shrugging once at him.

"Well, Arthur...you heard the man. Looks like I'm _your_ servant again."

In that instant, the platinum blonde smirked impishly. "Come now, cousin—this ought to give us more time to catch on with each other. After all, we haven't been sent together on a mission like this for ten years—"

In that instant, Arthur growled in frustration and left the room, waving his arms.

"Responsibility my _ass!_" I heard him shout before he stepped out into the hall.

After that, I exhaled sharply, burying my face in my hands and shaking my head.

_Good Lord—t__his _really _ought to be interesting now…_

~o~

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

All right—I know this chapter wasn't as funny as the others, but hey—I had to make room for filler scenes connecting to the main parts. Hopefully this still quite entertained you, though. ;D

As for Lionel—oh, if only I could explain how _adorable _he is in words (although Merlin's still a lot cuter XD). I felt sorry for him, too—but something had to happen for Arthur and Kay to come to their senses and wake up already. ^^" And this means that in the next chapter, where they, with Merlin stuck smack-dab in the middle of their lightning, are going to journey on their epic quest to rescue poor Lionel from Cenred's evil clutches from the Forest of Gedref and onwards, let's just say that the friction between Arthur and Kay in terms of tug-of-war with Merlin will be…_very amusing, _indeed. *laughs maniacally* XD Sharing blankets…going to the bathroom in the woods… One word: LAWL. XDDD

Still itching for more? Then stay tuned for the next and final(?) chapter. *slams random table with hands* BAM! ;-3

_**Reviews would be very much appreciated~ ^_^**_

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.


	5. Chapter 5: Through Fierce Lightning

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 5: Through Fierce Lightning**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), attempts for very _minimal _OOC, mild quarrels, and hints of citrus (as this story goes on ;3)

**Music on My Mind~ **Jesse by Ivri Lider (good song, but don't own ^^")

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

Sorry—I lied (but mostly underestimated how much was left to this story ^^"). The NEXT chapter shall be the sixth and LAST. ;D Sorry that it took longer for me than usual to post this—lots of things came up in my studies recently since it's almost the end of the marking period for me. ^^"

Enjoy~! =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.

~o~

I let out a yawn as I finished packing my bag, covering my mouth with my hand.

Huh—now it's _really _funny how I only got _zero _hours of sleep this time. (insert weak chuckle here)

Oh boy. What a day this has been so far, Merlin—what a day. We're not even halfway through the _morning, _and yet…

I exhaled sharply, closing my bag and slinging the strap over my shoulder. _Just wonderful._

At that moment, Gaius approached me from behind, warning me like he usually did.

"Be careful out there," he began with concerned eyes. "Cenred might have his men swarming all over the place by the time you three reach the border of his territory—that is, if he hasn't already discovered his men have captured Kay's servant."

"I know," I replied, making my way towards the door.

But as I reached for the knob, the physician raised an eyebrow. "And need I remind you again that you'll be dealing with _both _of them in this case?"

In that instant, my hand froze for a minute on the doorknob.

Silence.

Gaius frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest, speaking in a cautious tone. "Merlin…at this point, I do hope that you've had _more _than enough understanding in how their…'behavior' will be towards one another. I just want you to be conscious of that, considering the fact that _anything _could happen in the midst of your journey through the Forest of Gedref. Do not let anything rash result in your own downfall."

I paused for a moment, rolling my eyes and taking a deep breath. Then I turned to look my guardian in the eye and slowly shook my head.

"Oh, I'm _well aware _of that," I spoke back at him, pulling the door open.

In that instant, Prince Dollophead's voice could already be heard in the distance.

"_MERLIN! We haven't got all day, damn it!_"

At that moment, the physician laughed upon seeing me roll my eyes and sigh. Then he chuckled. "Take care, Merlin."

I smiled, then nodded once. "You too, Gaius."

"…and remember—you only have until tomorrow morning to do _something_ before the three of you return to Camelot again for the end of the tournament," he added in a increasingly more serious tone, raising an eyebrow.

At this, I lowered my eyes slightly for a brief minute, then nodded once more. "I know—don't worry about it."

With that, I stepped out into the square and closed the door behind me.

~o~

Soon, I could just see the two prats getting the horses ready at the front of the castle…their backs turned against each other. And to be even more frank here, Kay_ still_ had that mischievous smirk on his face and looked like he was literally _enjoying _this, while Arthur—oh. In this case, I'd say he _really_ looked like he wanted to strangle someone right now, and mind you, I wouldn't be too surprised if that person somehow ended up being me because the minute he glanced up from his horse's saddle to see me only within the range of a mere few feet away from him…

"There you are! Where the hell have you been for the past _half-hour?"_

I sighed, coming over to drop my bag next to the clotpole's horse, and knelt down to fix his damn saddle. "Rather sorry about that, _sire—_just packing up my stuff, you know," I replied sarcastically. "But I guess it's really not _that _important anyway, considering that I'm just not as wise as you, Prince _Arse-r._"

At that moment, I heard him exhale sharply, and I glanced to see him turn away from me with an irked expression on his face—one hand on his side, the other over his forehead to cover his eyes.

"For heavens sake, just hurry up, Merlin."

I rolled my eyes again, then turned to fumble around with the buckle strapped around the stallion's belly.

But that wasn't until I began to hear chuckling behind my back, and I briefly glanced over my shoulder again to see that Kay was actually snickering from where he was—just a few feet before his overbearing cousin.

"Pshh…Prince _Arse-r? _Can't help but say _that _one actually made sense there…_"_

At that moment, I couldn't help but chuckle myself as I turned towards the horse once more. _Funny how the _superprat _of all people decides to agree with me here…_

However, when I shifted my gaze towards the Prince himself, it looked as if he were merely trying to ignore the small gibe towards him…that is—until the chortling escalated a bit more after that (around two minutes, let's say?), and Arthur finally snapped, pushing me aside to fix his own saddle.

"All right, that's it. You're done, Merlin."

I stumbled a little as he shoved me over, then stepped back in the direction of Kay's horse, looking at him with an annoyed expression on my face.

He exhaled sharply as I bent down to fix the other blonde's saddle, then began to get on his own horse. "Let's go—whoa!"

_THUD._

At first, I paused for a minute, letting go of the leather strap in my hands. Then, I raised my head and slowly turned back to see an irritated dollophead on the ground with the brown saddle right next to him.

In that instant, the platinum blonde and I couldn't help but laugh at him, and I stood up to work on the other side of Kay's saddle.

"Sorry Arthur, but it looks like I actually wasn't done yet."

I glanced over to see him frown and grab the leather object next to him, raising it up at me with a discontented look on his face.

I smirked at him, then shifted my gaze down at the horse's buckle.

"Too bad—now you have to wait your turn for once."

At that moment, I ducked when the clotpole growled and attempted to throw the saddle at my head.

~o~

Meanwhile across the border from the Forest of Gedref…

Cenred let out a contented sigh as his hired men came in through the door with he only knew to be Sir Kay in their hands, his head covered with a sack and arms and legs bound up tightly with rope. He watched as they dumped him over before his very feet and held him up by the shoulders.

"We have your target, my lord," the leader spoke with a menacing smile. Then he held out his hand towards the latter. "The rest of the payment, if you please."

At that moment, the long-haired brunette grinned malevolently at the wriggling figure on the floor and reached into his pocket. "But of course," he chuckled, taking out a tiny sack of gold.

Immediately, the criminal's smile grew bigger, and he began to approach the king with the intention of retrieving his money.

But that was when Cenred abruptly drew his hand back and pointed to the young man before him. "After you remove that sack from his head, you imbecile," he spoke in a stern tone.

In that instant, the leader frowned and turned to gesture at his men with his fingers.

The king smirked sardonically.

With that, the criminals yanked the boy up and ripped the bag off the very top of his head, revealing what Cenred could only see to be…a mere servant—with big blue eyes and mousy brown hair, a rag tied over his mouth so that he could not speak.

At that moment, he frowned with dissatisfaction and shifted his gaze towards the leader.

"King Uther's nephew—as promised, sire," he spoke in a proud voice.

However, this only enraged Cenred even more, and abruptly he arose from his throne to glare at his men.

"You fools!"

The criminals whipped their heads up to look at the disgruntled latter.

He glared at them with livid eyes. "That is _not _Sir Kay of Leone!"

They glanced down to see their prisoner wriggle and mumble in protest behind the rag over his mouth. Then they raised their heads to face the angry king.

"You have brought me his servant! His _servant, _for heaven's sake! Can'tthe lot of you do _anything _right here for once?" he yelled furiously, waving his arms.

In that instant, the leader approached him again, desperately trying to calm him down. "We are terribly sorry, my lord. We shall correct our mistake at once and return to Camelot immediately."

Cenred let out an aggravated sigh, then plopped back down on the seat of his throne, putting his hand to his forehead. "Of all the _bumbling_…I should have you hanged, for all I care—"

Suddenly, the front doors flew open, and two of the king's guards had rushed in with concerned looks on their faces.

Immediately, the long-haired brunette frowned again. "What is it now?"

At that moment, one of the soldiers knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. "My lord—we have received word from our sources that Prince Arthur of Camelot is somewhere near the vicinity."

In that instant, Cenred slowly shook his head. "Oh, that's just _perfect._ Where is he now? Haven't I had enough _rubbish _for one day?" He waved his hand. "Double the guard as soon as possible and send troops to go after him at once. Is he alone?"

"No."

The king paused, then raised his eyes to look at his guards expectantly.

"He is being accompanied by his servant, sire—along with another knight," the other one spoke. "We can only assume without a doubt that he is, indeed, Sir Kay of Leone for certain. It appears that they are coming here to retrieve the boy."

At this, the long-haired brunette raised his eyebrows intriguingly, then gave a malevolent grin as an idea began to boil in the very center of his mind.

"Hmm…" he pondered, shifting his gaze towards Lionel, whose face grew apprehensive at that moment.

Cenred chuckled darkly. "Then perhaps all is not lost after all. Kill the others, but bring Kay to me."

~o~

(insert sigh here) Well, what can I say? It's been….oh, I don't know—about an _hour _since we left Camelot.

…and so begins a recap of all the interesting events that pretty much happened in those sixty minutes:

~xXx~

"Merlin."

_Splash._

Before I knew it, I was wide awake next to a tree and dripping wet with cold water, Arthur hovering over me with a smug grin on his face.

But that was only the beginning of it.

~xXx~

_(In the middle of the darkling woods…)_

"Cousin?"

Sigh. "What do you want _now, _Kay?"

"…I need to use the bathroom."

At that moment, Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief. "Don't be such a child. You already went a second time just before we left the castle!"

"Well, I need to go again. Call my bladder small if you want to."

An exasperated sigh from Arthur. "Just pick a tree and go, for heaven's sake. Make it quick."

"I _beg_ your pardon?"

In that instant, the Prince abruptly pulled his horse to a stop and turned around to face the platinum blonde with bulging eyes. "We're in the middle of the _woods, _damn it! Haven't you gone behind a _tree _before?"

I turned to see Kay slowly shake his head. "No—of course I haven't. It's not sanitary."

"That's a lie—what about all the times Uncle took you out camping with Sir William?"

"Sir William's father owned lots of rest stops back then! Of course I never dared to use a tree as any post of some sort!"

I watched as Arthur put his head over his forehead and looked away, taking a deep breath.

"If we don't stop now, I'll tell Uncle Uther about _that_ time when you decided to sneak a rat into my pillowcase."

I could have sworn I noticed the other's breath hitch at that moment.

…then after a while, I began to have that same feeling, too. It's not like I had any time to make a trip before I left Gaius's chambers, so you couldn't blame me, either…

"Arthur?"

Sharp exhale. "_What, _Merlin?"

"…I think I need to go, too."

Pause.

~xXx~

_(Outside a local inn…)_

"Are you two done yet?"

CRASH.

Before I knew it, we were thrown outside, Kay landing right next to me on the ground.

I raised my head to see an incredulous look appear on the dollophead's face. "What the hell just happened in there!"

In that instant, Kay clumsily got up on his feet and stumbled towards Arthur with a giddy countenance, speaking in a slur. "I jus' wanna get 'nother drink, but Mer-lin wunna let meh…" After that, he collapsed on his cousin's shoulder, and the innkeeper came rushing out, his face flushed red with rage.

"I don't care who the hell you lot are! Just keep out of my damn inn!"

As soon as the latter stormed back inside, Arthur glanced down at me, annoyed.

~xXx~

_(A couple hours later…)_

"Arthur, are we there yet?"

Sigh. "_No. _Kay."

_(Two minutes past)_

"…how about now?"

"No."

_(FIVE minutes past)_

"…_now?_"

"No, damn it!"

Another sigh from the clotpole.

Silence.

"Hey, Arthur—_are_ we there yet?"

"Don't start with me, Merlin."

I chuckled, amused how at this point he was already struggling to keep his sanity in the presence of his annoying cousin. And you could tell it was rather hard to believe Kay was two years older than the latter especially when you'd see him act _this_ way around Arthur…

Somehow I wondered at the same time if this was what Gaius meant all along. Can't help but say I actually kind of enjoyed this myself.

~o~

Everything else was pretty much straightforward after that, until the sun began to set, and we'd reached the Forest of Gedref. After a while, we'd decided to find somewhere else to set up camp for the night, and Arthur had nominated himself to go off on his own to find a favorable spot in addition to firewood, purposefully leaving me alone with his _dear _cousin.

I rolled my eyes as I mimicked the exact words he'd told me.

"_No, Merlin—I am perfectly fine with doing this ALONE. I couldn't possibly need any more help from you whatsoever…"_

_Sure you don't. _I let out a sigh and buried my face in my palms. This had indeed been quite a day.

Although that wasn't until I turned around to see Kay wink at me—and pretty soon, he was no longer in my sight.

Even now, I still thought to myself: why was he only like this when Arthur was around?

To be frank, it was like they were _brothers _or something.

~o~

Meanwhile, in another area of the forest…

Arthur exhaled sharply, getting off his horse to get a better look around the clearing. Then he nodded once.

"All right, then—looks like a good enough place to me." He took a deep breath, then turned to unpack his belongings.

But that was when all of a sudden, he'd heard a rustle coming from the bushes nearby and froze.

_Rustle._

In that instant, the Pendragon held his breath and quickly unsheathed his sword.

_Rustle. Crack._

At that moment, he swallowed and cautiously began to approach the shrubs. "Who's there?"

However, as soon as he'd reached the very front of them, it became quiet…_too _quiet.

Finally, after waiting for a few minutes, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then shrugged, turning his back to the bushes.

And that was when…

"Boo!"

Before the clotpole'd even realized it, he had already stumbled backward and dropped his sword on the ground, glaring into jumping grey eyes with aggravation. Then he sighed as his cousin began to laugh mischievously, clutching his stomach.

"Your face…it's…ahaha, it's too much…"

But the latter only exhaled sharply and stared at the platinum blonde. "What the hell is wrong with you today? Are you _still _giddy from all that wine you had earlier?" He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "Come on. I specifically told you to stay put, and—oh, forget it. What was I thinking? It's not like you ever listen to me anyway." He paused for a moment, shifting his gaze around the area, and frowned.

"…now where's Merlin?"

In that instant, Kay grew silent and looked behind his back. "Uh-oh."

Arthur sighed, then looked at his cousin with disdain. "Good _Lord, _Kay. _Please_ don't tell me you left him alone back there—you should know now as well as I do that _idiot_ is just about as accident-prone as an—"

"Aah!"

All of a sudden, the ground began to shake.

Immediately, the two blondes whipped their swords out and whirled around to see me running across the clearing, a giant lizard chasing from behind.

"_Oh my—"_

~o~

At this point, we were all sitting around a campfire, eating whatever we could salvage together for dinner.

Arthur and Kay were sitting on opposite sides from me, picking at their plates. Then after a few minutes, Prince _Prat-a-lot _decided to put his meal down and began to make his way back past the trees to retrieve more firewood.

At that moment, I smirked to myself and of all times, couldn't help but say:

"Do you need help getting any of that? Or would you rather do this one _alone?"_

"MERLIN!"

~o~

For once, I actually liked having Kay around. Really I did, despite him being a superprat. His sudden change in personality was just…too much for words to describe. And he'd been a bit nicer to me, too, ever since we left Camelot with Arthur. Made me wonder about that as well…

I watched as the platinum blonde went to lie down on his blanket while his cousin was still rummaging through the bag for his own.

That was when Kay chose that moment to speak again.

"Arthur?"

In that instant, the Pendragon sighed and spoke. "What, Kay?"

At first, there was a long pause. I lowered my eyes and continued to clean up the mess by the campfire.

Then:

"…I'm bored. Play a game with me?"

Sharp exhale. "_No._"

In that instant, the platinum blonde sat up on his blanket. "Oh, come now, cousin—for old time's sake. _Please?_"

"No." For a minute, it actually sounded like Arthur knew what he was talking about.

But that wasn't until Kay shifted his gaze towards me and grinned. "Fine, then. _Merlin—_play with me," he demanded.

I sighed, putting down the plates in my hands. "What are we playing?"

At that moment, the platinum blonde paused to think, then turned to look at me. "Oh, nothing. Just a little word game, that's all. _Completely _harmless. You don't even have to move around or anything like that."

I dubiously raised an eyebrow. "_Really?_ How do you play?"

In that instant, Kay crossed his arms and looked around. "Well, it's quite easy if you ask me. You see, in this game you mention anything in your surroundings right now—anything at all, and then the other person has to quickly think of another word that relates to it directly."

He paused to see the puzzled expression on my face, then chuckled. "All right, here—I'll give you an example."

He shifted his gaze towards the trees. "Let's say…I wanted to say the word 'leaf.' Now if I were to say the word 'leaf,' you would have to shoot back with another word like…'green' or…'plant.' Then you keep going until someone decides to start another round at any point in the game with a different object. Whoever wins the most rounds wins. You can't say anything vague throughout the game, though—it always has to be specific, or you lose a turn."

At this, I nodded once, pondering for a minute. "Is that so?"

"Yeah—Arthur and I used to play this game every time Father would take outside to go hunting. Why, it used to be his favorite game back then, since _he _was the one who'd made it up in the first place." The platinum blonde glanced at his cousin. "Wasn't it, Arthur?"

But the Pendragon frowned and merely shrugged his shoulders. "Eh. Say what you want."

At that moment, Kay rolled his eyes. "Don't mind him. He's probably still sulking over our last match ten years ago when I actually beat him at his own game before I left Camelot."

"_Sobbing,_" Arthur added sarcastically.

The platinum blonde exhaled sharply, then looked up at me with a grin on his face. "Well, then—let's try to get one round going, shall we? Ready?"

I shrugged and nodded once. "Sure."

With that, the knight nodded back and immediately shifted his gaze for a minute, searching for the perfect word. Then finally, he paused and spoke in a clear, articulate tone. "Okay…_fire. _Your turn."

Huh—well, that was an easy one. Without even thinking, I managed to shoot back a reply.

"Scorching."

The platinum blonde chuckled. "Good one, Merlin. _Red._"

In that instant, I glanced over to see Arthur smirking with his back still towards us. Then I frowned and opened my mouth to speak again. "Uh…shirt."

"_Merlin._"

At that moment, I whirled around to look at Kay, then glanced down at my clothes. "What? Oh, right—I forgot I'm actually not wearing blue today," I chuckled.

The latter smiled back, then spoke again. "So I see. _Merlin,_" he repeated curtly.

"_Imbecile,_" Arthur cut in abruptly before I began to give another reply.

Not long after that, I turned around to hear the clotpole laughing his head off.

I rolled my eyes, then waved my hands at him. "You just said you weren't going to play!"

In that instant, the Pendragon chuckled, raising his hands in defense. "I never said I didn't _want _to."

I raised an eyebrow.

He smirked, then began to walk towards the other side of the fire.

"And right now…I actually dowant to play, _Merlin._"

Before I knew it, he was sitting right next to me.

He gave me a smug grin, then finished his comment. "So I _am _playing—whether you like it or not."

I let out a sigh.

The dollophead laughed again, then shifted his gaze from me to Kay. "Besides…this game just got very interesting."

At that moment, Kay began to smirk confidently. "Then so it shall begin…_Arthur._"

Silence.

Then I stirred after a few minutes, just realizing the second round had begun. I sat up a little more, clearing my throat. "Oh right—haha, sorry about that. Didn't know we were starting a new round. _Overbearing,_" I replied confidently, glancing at Arthur mischievously.

The Pendragon narrowed his eyes at me. "Really now?"

"Lose a turn, so I get a shot," the platinum chimed in. "New round: _Merlin._"

"_Idiot_."

I sighed, frowning at the Prince. "Come on—can't you choose something else _other_ than me?"

"Lose a turn…" Kay replied impishly with a chuckle. "And no—it's too good."

"_Wimp,_" the other blonde replied with another proud smirk.

"Weak," his cousin added playfully.

"Dumb."

"_Stupid._"

"Arthur_,_" I shot back immediately, narrowing my eyes at him. But his grin only grew more profoundly arrogant.

Silence.

At that moment, we both looked at the platinum blonde questioningly, only to see him wave us off. "Er…think I'll pass this one."

With that, Arthur turned to look at me, and quickly I took that chance to say yet another word directly describing the ass sitting next to me.

"_Dollophead,_" I spoke clearly in his face.

In that instant, Kay broke out into a wave of laughter. "_Spot-on!_"

Arthur's mouth dropped, and he began to protest. "You can't possibly do that—"

"Any word, cousin—any word. You said so yourself when you made the rules up," the platinum blonde cut in, chuckling. "And with that—yes, he _can. _Like you almost wrote in blood before: 'no ifs, ands, or _buts,'_" he imitated in sing-song.

Almost immediately, I broke out a smug grin myself and snickered. "_Prat-a-lot._"

The Pendragon shook his head and intently looked into my eyes with disbelief. "_Bumpkin_," he spat out disdainfully.

Pretty soon, it was just me and him spitting replies at each other.

"_Supercilious."_

"_Unwise._"

"_Pomp-ous._"

"FOOL-_ish._"

"_Condescending._"

"I am _not!_" the Prince shouted back. At that point, I'd just realized we were both standing up now, right in each other's faces.

"Lose a turn…" Kay replied. "And don't be such a child, _Arthur._"

I laughed that time, almost falling over the log behind me. This was probably my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually be able to show Arthur up in public _and _get away with it.

"Patronizing!"

"_Lazy!_" the Pendragon growled, glaring at me.

In that instant, I smiled real big and shot yet another one right back in his face.

"_**Fat!**__"_

Immediately, Arthur's eyes began to flare with rage. "Oh, better off _dead _if he doesn't shut up this _second!_"

"Arrogant!"

"_Insolent!"_

"_CLOT-POLE!_" I shouted, loud and clear.

And that last one definitely made Arthur look like he'd just been struck dumbfounded.

In less than a second, I could have sworn I'd seen Kay fall over in a hoot, his face almost as red as a tomato, tears streaming down his cheeks. And I even almost did the same myself, had it not been for Prince _Arse_-r getting up to leave.

I chuckled and grinned smugly, calling after him. "Pshh—what's this now? Are you quitting, Prince _Prat-a-lot_?"

At that moment, Arthur replied in an aggravated tone without even glancing once over his shoulder. "I'm going to bed."

After that, Kay and I were left alone on the other side of the campfire—_still _laughing our damn heads off.

~o~

Even when the two were lying on their blankets, I still couldn't help but utter just one last word before moving over to grab my own sheet from the bag next to Arthur's feet.

"_Loser…"_

"Give it a rest, Merlin."

"Not on your life…OW!"

But that wasn't until the dollophead's arm moved swiftly to throw the damn bag at my head. Funny how he didn't kick me instead, but it still hurt like hell.

I flinched back a little to rub the back of my head, then watched as he smirked contentedly, shuffling over until he was on his side, with his back facing me.

"Very funny," I retorted back at him with a tone dripping with sarcasm. I exhaled sharply and sat down where I was, glaring at the latter.

The Pendragon chuckled.

Not long after that, Kay let out an exhausted sigh and rolled over on his other side to shift his gaze towards his cousin. "_Somebody's_ being a sour apple…"

"Say another word, and I swear I'll kill you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

The platinum blonde snickered. "Hey—I wouldn't be talking if I were you…_Wart._"

Silence.

"You did _not _just call me that."

I paused for a second to let the comment sink into my mind at the very least. Then I crumpled my forehead in confusion, shifting my gaze from Arthur to Kay.

"…who the hell in the world is _Wart?_"

At that moment, the knight smiled mischievously.

"I don't know—why don't you ask _Arthur?_ I bet _he _knows who thatis…unless he's already forgotten. He focused his eyes on the other blonde lying in the front. "…well, cousin?"

I glanced over at the latter, who merely sighed and shifted further away from us.

After that, Kay's grin grew even bigger. "All right—so he won't confess it, but it's who he was, really, when we were just lads…_before _he became the brave, bigheaded brute you've known so well for the time being."

The other blonde frowned and rolled his eyes. Then his grey-eyed cousin turned to look at me and chuckled, shaking his head.

"Rather crazy childhood nickname, if you ask me…even when I was the one who made it up in the first place," he chortled. "Fancy that one, huh?"

In that instant, my eyes had widened in disbelief, and my mouth dropped. "_No way—_you mean that…"

At that point, Kay was already _choking_ on laughter, one hand over his chest. Then he nodded, simpering at me. "Pshh…_eight _years…it stuck with him for _eight _beautiful years for _everyone_…and he hasn't been called that once since then…until _now._"

At that moment, Arthur's ears slowly flushed a bright red. Then I let out a stifled chuckle, covering my mouth partially with my hand.

"Really? _Wart?_"

"_The _Wart," the platinum blonde added jokingly.

The Pendragon grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. "It was _his _fault the people of Camelot actually began to consider calling me that as my title."

I began to laugh wholeheartedly at that point, clutching my stomach with my arms. "Wait, wait—so…so does that mean I have to start calling you Prince _Wart-_hur now?" I gibed, looking back at the clotpole on the ground. "Oh, Prince _Wart-_hur! Help us! Save us!"

But the blonde only exhaled sharply and spoke in a dangerous voice.

"MERLIN. Shut. _Up._"

(insert one last snicker here)

~o~

After a while, I finally let out a sigh, then reached over to grab the leather bag. "Well, then—I think I'm going to hit the hay now."

I yawned, stretching my arms up for a second, and reached into the pouch for my own blanket.

But to my surprise…it wasn't there.

Immediately my eyes bulged, and I quickly checked all the pockets.

"What the—"

Nothing else was in there—except for paper and some of Arthur's other junk. Then finally after a few minutes, I put the bag down and frowned to myself.

I glanced back flatly at the two prats behind me, both of them already in their comfortable positions on _their _blankets.

I took a deep breath and put my hand to my forehead.

"…guys—where's my blanket?"

In that instant, the blondes stirred.

"I don't know," Kay replied with a shrug. "The last time I checked, _Wart _here had the bag—"

"Oh, _that _old thing," Arthur cut in with an impish tone.

At that moment, I shifted my gaze towards him with a dubious look on my face.

He let out a loud yawn and smacked his lips. "Right—I used it to fend off that giant lizard that was chasing us from before."

"You _what?_" Immediately, I stared at him with sheer incredulity.

Arthur chuckled, then rolled over to look back at me with a mischievous smirk. "Sorry, Merlin."

I opened my mouth in protest and glanced down at the empty sack. "Then where the hell am _I _going to sleep?"

Suddenly, there was a long pause.

And that was when…Kay turned over to grin at me, too. "Guess that means you'll have to share…not it," he remarked, putting a finger on his nose.

I sighed, burying my face in my hands.

Oh, Christ, you've _got _to be kidding me.

…

For heaven's sake, that left me with…

_I'd really much rather sleep on the ground._

I took a deep breath, then looked up, only to see Arthur's confident smile grow even bigger at that moment. He raised an eyebrow questioningly at me.

I swallowed, then began to object. "Oh, there is absolutely _no way _that you're going to get me to sleep next to—"

~o~

_(Hours later…)_

_SNORE._

I rolled my eyes and let out an annoyed sigh as Prince Dollophead began to snore even louder. Then I frowned and rolled over on my side so that I was facing away from him, closing my eyes in the hopes that somehow I'd try to at least get _some _sleep tonight.

_Snore._

But that wasn't until the latter's breath hitched for just a moment. (insert weak chuckle here) You know…at first I thought there was finally going to be peace and quiet after that, and well…I started to relax a bit.

However…not long after that, I heard a bit of shuffling from behind me, and pretty soon, I found myself caught in yet _another _damn bear hug from him.

_Seriously?_

I exhaled sharply and opened my eyes to glance over my shoulder, waving my hand over the latter's face.

Good Lord, it was still hard to believe he was out like a candle. Even now I still wonder sometimes just what this imbecile dreamed about in his sleep—especially from that _other _night where he grabbed me unconsciously from out of the blue …all the way up to _now._

"Merlin…" the latter mumbled, smacking his lips again.

At that moment, my eyes widened, and I held my breath. Oh God, _that_ was creepy enough. Even in his sleep, he was still as very much a prat as he was when he was awake.

I frowned and fruitlessly attempted to take his arms off of me, but just like last time, they only ended up wrapped tighter around my torso as if I were a fluffy teddy bear of some sort—which I am definitely _not_, last time I checked.

I let out another aggravated sigh as I gave up and put my hands down. And instinctively, probably to just subconsciously try to _tick _me off in that devious mind of his, Arthur shifted over even closer to where I was.

Then suddenly, I heard a low chuckle a few feet across from me, and I glanced up to see Kay up on his feet and dressed in his armor...as if he were going to ideally _leave _for any reason—except it just so happened that he ended up blowing his own cover, because the minute he noticed that I was fully awake, the superprat immediately turned around to keep walking.

In that instant, I cleared my throat, raising an eyebrow at him.

The platinum blonde abruptly stopped in his tracks, then reluctantly turned around to look at me.

"Going somewhere, I suppose?"

Kay paused for a minute, scratching the back of his head. "Well…"

I looked at him with dubious eyes.

…then that was when Prince _Arse-_r began to snore again.

At that moment, I rolled my eyes and exhaled sharply, shifting my eyes towards the other blonde.

Kay chuckled. "Don't bother waking him up."

I looked up at him with sarcasm in my eyes.

He smiled at me, then walked over to my side and extended his hand out towards me. "Here—allow me to help you with that."

~o~

The two of us made our way into the darkness of the woods, leaving Arthur behind in a…rather _interesting _position, the blanket wrapped tightly around him.

.

.

Don't look at me—it was _Kay's _idea, not mine.

(insert chuckle here) Anyway, we both walked until we reached the top of a nearby hill and sat down in front of a lone tree to stare out into the distance.

"You know Arthur's going to be really ticked off when he wakes up," I spoke in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

The platinum blonde chuckled, glancing over at me. "Oh, _is _he now?"

At that moment, I couldn't help but laugh a bit myself.

Kay let out a sigh. "Good heavens, he treats you more like a little brother than a servant, you do realize that?"

I exhaled sharply, picking at a few blades of grass in front of me. "You don't know the _half _of it," I replied.

He smirked. "Do you always end up calling each other those names that were mentioned earlier?"

I shrugged. "For him, yes. But for me…well, only in my mind. Otherwise I'd just be _asking_ to be thrown in the dungeon."

The knight laughed. "He still hasn't changed a bit, then."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Was he like this before?"

"Sure," he chortled, his big grey eyes jumping. "Except back then, _I'd _treat him like he was my younger brother, and I still do now by annoying the hell out of him every once in a while. It can't be helped."

I chuckled. "Oh, that just about explains everything, then. Must run well in the family."

In that instant, Kay laughed once more and looked at me. "You know, Merlin—you're all right. I regret not getting to know you any sooner."

I grinned smugly. "Not so bad yourself. Well, _now, _at least."

He raised his hands up in mock defense. "Hey—I don't go so far as to make friends with _all _the servants I meet. It's beyond me as a knight, you know."

I raised my eyebrow again. "Huh—so is that why you'd only prefer Lionel over everyone else, including me, who you treated like dirt from the first day onwards? Any reason why you picked _me _in the first place when the two of you started bickering?"

Arthur's cousin jokingly elbowed me in the shoulder. "Only to tick little _Wart _off. I only knew you were his after he started making faces at you back at the royal court and made things so blatantly obvious."

I snickered.

"However, I really am sorry about that," the platinum blonde spoke again in a sincere tone. "I mean...the way I made things difficult for you in the beginning."

I shrugged, looking out into the distance to see the sun begin to rise. "It's all right actually. It wasn't like anything was worse than having to deal with your cousin's own demands and complaints every other day."

There was another chuckle from him. Then silence filled the gap between the two of us.

"So…when did you both start fighting?"

At that moment, I stiffened, glancing over at Kay.

~o~

Meanwhile, back at camp, Arthur let out a yawn, finally bringing himself to wake up. But as he tried to stretch his arms out in front of him…he couldn't for some reason.

That was when he had opened his eyes immediately, only to see that somebody had bound him up with his own _blanket,_ for crying out loud, and that neither his servant nor his idiot cousin were in sight.

"What—what is this!"

The Pendragon exhaled sharply, attempting to wriggle free, but merely ended up on his stomach face-down. Not long after that, he sighed again and raised his head to spit out any dirt from his mouth, only to find a…_specific _word clearly etched on the ground in front of him.

_CLOTPOLE._

In that instant, Arthur growled in frustration and fell over on his side to shout bloody hell to the heavens.

"MERLIN!"

~o~

After a while, the blonde had finally extricated himself from the blanket's hold and threw the latter aside, staggering to his feet to follow after the two imbeciles. Oh, boy—he'd _kill_ him as soon as he found him.

Arthur let out an aggravated sigh, then continued to make his way past the trees.

And soon later, that was when he'd finally found both of them sitting together on a nearby hill, speaking to each other with smiles on their faces…

He frowned, then crept closer to the two, preparing to decide who he should strangle first. But that wasn't until those smiles had turned into frowns, and Merlin had looked away from Kay for a moment.

In that instant, the Prince stopped where he was, behind a few bushes, and listened carefully as his eyes began to soften by the raven's words…

~o~

I paused for a minute, then looked down at my feet.

"…how did you know?"

At that moment, Kay peered out at the rising sun. "It wasn't _obvious, _but not hard to figure out really," he spoke reluctantly. "No, wait—scratch that. It was _more _thanblatantly obvious." He chuckled lightly, then shifted his gaze towards me.

I sat there with my mouth open for a while, then spoke in a dull tone. "Well…" I exhaled sharply. "When did you and _Lionel _begin arguing in the first place?"

Another long pause.

The platinum blonde let out a sigh, scratching the back of his head. "Er…that's not exactly easy to explain, either. I…if I told you…would you tell me?"

I swallowed, then shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess so."

In that instant, Kay took a deep breath, then put his hand to his forehead. "All right then. First of all…the two of you are so alike to me in many ways that I can't comprehend myself. You're both…so _kind_, always loyal to the person you serve, despite the fact that he's a complete and utter royal fool of himself…"

He slowly shook his head. "Without either of you, I would think to say that neither Arthur nor I would even be here right now—in a good way. I mean, you're always there to help us when we need it."

I listened carefully to the latter's words.

Then the platinum blonde continued in a more hushed tone. "…but we were wrong to take either of you for granted, especially how I just shook Lionel off alone like that." He looked at me. "Even though it was so clear that you two weren't getting along with each other, I still have absolutely no idea what my cousin had done to you to deserve your temporarily abandoning him."

I lowered my eyes in melancholy.

Kay sighed and buried his face in his hands. "As for me—you could say I was blinded by my own pride and commitment to live up to both my father's _and _my uncle's expectations from me. I was too obsessed with thinking of ways to win that tournament that…I had lost sight of whether I was in danger or not. Lionel had tried to warn me numerous times before that, from the beginning when we'd left home for Camelot." He hung his head. "Truly, he had been the only one at the time to really care for my well being…but I was stupid enough not listen to him, and in the end, I ended up hurting—maybe even _losing _him. Now look what happened."

He exhaled sharply, then looked at me with sincere eyes. "Merlin—I'll be frank to say I never had anything to do with the sudden death round Uncle Uther and Father had prepared for Arthur and me at the end of the match. Least to say, despite the fact that we both grew up being rivals as lads…it was and _still _isn't in me to do any critical harm to my own cousin, even if he is an ass. More so…" He looked away briefly. "…I just want to get Lionel back. I would like nothing less than to clear this mess up for once, regardless of whether he is a servant or…whatever."

My eyes softened at that point as I remembered the brunette's concerned eyes from that another night.

"_He wouldn't even __look __at me, Merlin. What should I do? I don't have anyone else. I don't __know __what to do when he won't let me help him myself…"_

"Sure," I ended up mumbling under my breath. Then I paused to swallow. "Although Arthur might as well be just as self-absorbed, too."

The platinum blonde rolled his eyes jokingly. "…what happened between you and cousin?"

_More than you could ever imagine._

I sighed, then picked at a few more blades of grass. "I don't know where to begin."

"Come on, Merlin—I told you _my _sob story."

I couldn't help but chuckle a little at that one. Then my countenance became solemn. "Well…let's just say it was something quite similar." I glanced over to see that he was still listening for the rest.

After that, I took a deep breath, then began to explain my side of the story as best I could without butchering anything up.

"For all either of us might remember from just before this past week, we both, well…had a spat on a certain morning." I paused for a moment to look up at the orange-sapphire morning sky. "And we ended up saying terrible things to each other—especially me, since I unintentionally hurt his feelings in the deepest manner possible." In that instant, I chose not to mention the exact words I'd said _or _the fact that it was the dollophead's birthday at the time. I cleared my throat and continued. "Now he's mad at me, and well…" I shrugged. "I really don't know how much longer we're going to keep this up. All that I _do _know is…I definitely didn't mean to hurt him like that, and I'm still trying to think of the best way to get him to forgive me for it."

At that moment, Kay nodded. "That's good—I'm actually doing the same thing for Lionel. We're in the same boat, then."

I laughed weakly.

"…but I can't help but say something I've never told anyone, not even him before."

The platinum blonde turned to look at me. "What's that?"

I let out a sigh, then closed my eyes, leaning my chin against my arms folded on top of my knees. "In the end, I never understood why, but I _always _have to consider _his _feelings all the time, not just when it's like this." I gazed intently at the dew forming on the grass nearby.

"Sometimes…I just wish he'd at least try to do the same for me, too, but because of who I am as a _person_…I can't even tell him my own feelings," my voice faltered a bit on the last part.

In that instant, the knight next to me comfortingly put a hand on my shoulder. "Worry not, I'm sure that he will in time. Knowing Arthur almost as my younger brother for more than ten years now, I am certain that he will learn to understand, regardless of the circumstances. He's like that anyway." He smiled slightly, then frowned not long after that. "Although I wish…I could say the same for Lionel."

I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded once. "He _will _understand, Kay. You can definitely count on that."

The grey-eyed blonde chuckled softly, then nodded back as well, patting my shoulder once. "It wouldn't hurt to tell him how _you _feel every now and then, Merlin. It's not like you're always meant to be a martyr here."

I grinned, then looked out into the horizon. "…I guess so."

At that moment, Kay smiled and got up on his feet. "Come on—we should go before Arthur wakes up and finds out we're gone."

I swallowed, then stood up as well. "All right."

The two laughed and turned to make their way back into the forest. But at the same time, they didn't even bother to realize that the prince that they had just finished talking about was not far from them, hidden behind the bushes—still holding his breath at what he'd heard his servant say.

After a while, when the raven and platinum blonde had disappeared, Arthur had left as well, disappearing into the woods.

~o~

By the time Merlin and Kay had returned, the Pendragon was already there, the horses already packed and ready to go.

But what surprised them both was the nonchalant expression on the latter's face, as he greeted the two of them like nothing had happened.

"Oh—there you are," Arthur spoke in an unwavering tone, walking past them to fix another horse's saddle. He sighed, then closed the last bag, patting it closed. "Let's go. We don't have much time."

After that, he got on the back of his own horse and began to start off into the woods on his own.

For a moment, Kay and Merlin couldn't help but look at each other questioningly, perplexed by the latter's sudden change in mood. Then they followed after him in silence.

~o~

It was quiet for the next couple of hours, as the three of them neared the border of Cenred's kingdom. And that whole time, Merlin kept looking at Arthur with concerned eyes, though he had never once bothered to look over his shoulder to meet his gaze.

After a while, the Pendragon had decided to stop again along the way beside a nearby river, as this would be the last time that any of them would be able to take a break before crossing the border.

At that point, when he had left Merlin and Kay alone with the horses to check their exact location in the forest, Merlin didn't hesitate once to go after him after the platinum blonde had nodded once with consent.

~o~

He had followed the Prince until they had reached a clearing, and Arthur stopped to recognize his servant who had followed him.

"Arthur," Merlin had spoken softly, silently approaching the Pendragon. But the latter only looked away, hiding the troubled expression on his face.

"What do you want?" he replied in a tone that may have unintentionally been a bit too harsh. However, that didn't faze the raven much.

"I need to talk to you."

The blonde frowned, not bothering to turn around. "About what?"

There was a long pause.

"It's…well, it's important," Merlin replied, his voice slightly faltering.

At this, Arthur knew he would not be able to face his servant now, especially not after what he'd heard earlier that morning. He closed his eyes and hung his head, letting out a sigh. "I don't have time for this, Merlin. Father said we have to get back to Camelot by daybreak. We only have a few hours to find Lionel by then."

Good Lord, he swore he wanted to hit himself as those words came out of his very mouth, but he knew at that point that he would not be able to take them back.

After that, the raven was quiet for a minute. Then he began to speak again. "But I—"

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish that sentence for suddenly the sound of clattering hooves and men's cries could be heard not far from where they were.

Not long after that, Kay could be seen rushing towards them as fast as he could, three of Cenred's men chasing after him in pursuit.

"Go! We're being attacked!"

In that instant, their eyes widened, and Arthur and Merlin began to make a run for it, the platinum blonde not far behind them.

However, as soon as they reached the end of the clearing, more soldiers emerged from the trees before them.

Immediately, Kay and Arthur pulled out their swords and began to fight them off.

"Merlin!" the Pendragon yelled, looking at his servant over his shoulder. "Go see if there's another path we can escape through nearby! Hurry!"

The raven nodded once without hesitation, then began to look around, avoiding their assailants. Soon, he'd found a vacant route on the other side of the area they were in and sprinted towards that direction.

"Over here!" he cried out.

At that moment, both blondes quickly followed after him.

~o~

They ran until they reached a bridge up close, but stopped in their tracks as soon as they'd seen the wooden planks all old and run-down, as if they'd give in at any moment.

"What do we do?" Kay asked anxiously, looking at his cousin.

In that instant, Arthur held his breath and glanced back to hear Cenred's men rushing towards them from probably just a few feet away. Then he looked down at the raging rapids just below him and shifted his gaze towards the path across the bridge.

"We don't have a choice. Kay, you go first. Merlin and I will take it from here. At least in this case, if there's more of them waiting on the other side, you'll have your sword out and ready."

At that moment, the platinum nodded once and began to make his way across the bridge, carefully stepping over the dilapidated planks and avoiding any gaps in between.

Soon after that, Arthur and Merlin briskly glanced over their shoulders, then quickly followed after the knight.

Somewhat to their benefit, it wasn't long before Kay had finally reached the other side, only to see that the coast was clear. He exhaled sharply, then turned around to see the other two were still hurriedly crossing the other half of the bridge.

"Come on!" he yelled apprehensively, waving to them.

Merlin exhaled sharply as he just barely avoided a lone gap with his foot. At that point, Arthur turned around to see that the enemy had almost reached the beginning of the bridge.

"Hurry!" the Pendragon spoke cautiously.

The other swallowed, then continued to make his way through, both of them breathing heavily with adrenaline.

~o~

It was only a matter of time before the two of them were just inches from getting to the other side as well.

At that point, Kay was already extending his hand out to Merlin with anxious eyes. "Take it!" he cried out in haste.

Immediately the raven took the latter's hand, then quickly turned around to grab Arthur's.

But that wasn't until they heard a loud _snap _from the rope that had been holding the bridge intact, and pretty soon, the other end came falling down, taking both Merlin and the Prince down with it.

At that moment, he was just hanging from what was left of the bridge, desperately holding Kay's hand and just barely being able to catch Arthur's as he dangled from below, just a few feet away from the raging rapids.

"ARTHUR!" Merlin cried out.

~o~

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

*_Wart _(Arthur's nickname) came from the novel _The Once and Future King _by T.H. White, as did Sir Kay himself. That book's probably my main source for all my original Arthurian legend knowledge, besides the television series we all know and love very much. ;-3

As for my final comments on this chapter…

1. The word game Arthur, Kay, and Merlin played earlier came from the original _Concentration _(no hesitation) hand game (always was annoying to me when I was little…but had to use it for _some _laughs XD)

2. Personally love Kay in this chapter. ^w^

3. Yes—Arthur and Merlin fell off a bridge. Do you think they'll die? Hopefully not-I'm not _that _heartless. :P

Find out what becomes of them in the next and definitely final chapter! OwO And I hoped you guys liked this one, too. ^^" Please tell me if you did, okie? So I know where to go for the next part of this story? ^_^";

Thanks so much and ja~ =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.


	6. Chapter 6: La Fin d'Larmes

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 6: La Fin d'Larmes**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), attempts for very _minimal _OOC, mild quarrels, and (sometimes suggestive?) humor

**Music on My Mind~ **Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls (don't own, although the song quite fits them well. ;D)

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

"The End of Tears" in French in case if you didn't quite catch that the first time around. ^^" Why? I don't know—I felt like it. XD Or you could say it's sort of a parallel to "Le Morte d'Arthur" in title. ~wO (Correct me if I'm wrong with the translation, though…derp. X"D)

PLEASE DON'T THROW STUFF AT ME BUT...I apologize for the late update—school got the best of me again for the past couple of weeks. =w="; But here we are…not with the final chapter though—there's actually one more after this. ^^" Really, _really_ sorry again, but I underestimated the length of this chapter as well… n.n" But I promise you all, the _next _chapter will be the last, cross my heart and hope to die. (hopefully not ^^")

Enjoy~ =^w^= Thanks very much to all who have supported me throughout this whole story—couldn't have gotten this far without you guys. ^_^

*sigh* All right, then. Time for me to shut up and for you to read. ;D

Regards,

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.

~o~

At that moment, a thunderclap filled the silver sky above, and rain began to pour down upon us, gusts of wind tossing the broken bridge here and there and causing the waves below to grow more intense, almost reaching the very bottom of Arthur's feet.

The two of us hung where we were for our lives, clutching at any last bit that kept us in the air out of harm's way…

"Arthur!" I cried as I grasped the blonde's hand. From there, I could just barely see him staring down at the raging rapids before him with wide eyes, his mouth dropped open in horror.

…but time was very limited for all of us at that point.

"Damn!" Kay cursed under his breath as he tried to hold his ground at the edge of the cliff, his arm almost entirely yanked downwards.

I sucked in a gulp of air, then looked down at the Prince hanging below me. I heard him curse under his breath, too, then look up at me with intent eyes.

"Merlin—let go of his hand for even a second, and I swear I'll _kill _you."

I winced and glanced up for a minute, then looked back down to meet the other's gaze.

"_Trust me_, I'm hanging on."

"But for how much longer?" Kay burst out in a loud voice, his face already scrunched up in pain. He groaned, slightly moving forward to support his poor arm.

Suddenly, we began to hear cries across from us, and we glanced back to see Cenred's men begin to execute another attack on us from our blind spots. In less than a second, arrows had swarmed into the air, heading straight in our direction.

At that moment, the three of us frantically shifted over this way and that in a desperate attempt to dodge them all. But that wasn't until a lone arrow had come in from out of nowhere and pierced Kay right in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and instantaneously let go of my hand.

"Whoa!"

In that instant, Arthur and I began to slide down rapidly towards the violent waters below us, and in just the nick of time before either of us could reach our doom, I managed to just barely latch on to one of the wooden planks of the broken bridge, hopefully so as not to dislocate my shoulder or break anything.

Oh, but how ironic could this get? Right now, my arm hurt like hell anyway, almost to the point that it was numb. But never mind that. What _really _mattered the most now…was not letting go of Arthur's hand.

I winced, then looked up to search for Kay again and tried calling to him as loud I could.

"Kay! Where are you?"

Not long after that, I heard another cry and saw the platinum blonde fall near the edge of the cliff so that the back of his head could only be seen from my angle. And of course he was alive because we could see that he was moving—dodging _something _that happened to be up there with him.

"You idiot! What the hell are you doing!" Arthur shouted at him from below.

Suddenly, we heard the clashing of swords. "Trying not to get killed!" the platinum blonde exclaimed apprehensively, turning his head to glance at us. "Sorry I can't do anything right now—my hands are just so _damn _full!" At that moment, I saw yet another one of Cenred's men try to pin him down, striking his weapon towards the knight's neck and Kay himself just barely blocking him with his own sword. So they'd covered that side, too…damn it all.

"Just hold on as much as you can!"

"I _am _holding on as much as I can!" I yelled back, dangling from that lone piece of wood that kept both me and Arthur safe.

_But for how much more? _I thought to myself, tightening my grip on both Arthur's hand and the plank. Shoot—this really wasn't good.

Soon, more arrows began to shower over us, and this time I had no choice but to use a bit of magic as inconspicuously I could from the Prince's eyes, redirecting every single arrow back towards the enemy and sending a few of them falling to their deaths.

And then another gust of wind tried to blow us away, sharply jostling us to the right and almost making me lose my grip. But I held on for dear life, pulling Arthur up a little bit, too.

"Merlin!" the blonde called out from below, watching the raging rapids sweep past his feet.

"Arthur!" I shouted back in response, wrapping my fingers around the wet piece of wood. At that point, we were both exhausted and drenched from the rain.

"Hang on!"

"What the hell do you think _I'm_ doing!"

"Sorry_, Merlin_, it just keeps slipping up!"

"Augh!"

To be frank…I really didn't know if I could keep us up for much longer. I clenched my teeth and winced with bright amber-gold eyes as I desperately continued to fight the assailants off, hurtling them off the cliff one by one.

Then I stopped immediately…the _minute_ I'd heard Prince Dollophead yell yet another pompous remark at me.

"This is _your_ fault—you do realize that?"

.

.

…he_ didn't_ just say that.

In that instant, I frowned, my eyes returning back to their normal sapphire blue tint. Then I looked down at the latter, all thoughts flooding into my mind. "What? _Now _what do you mean it's _my _fault?"

"If you had listened to me and stayed with Kay like I asked you to, this never would have happened, and we wouldn't have been found!" the other retorted.

Oh, God—I couldn't believe it. Really?

I shrank back, then exhaled sharply. "So _that's_ how it is? I suppose you want me to fix this on my own doing, now you're blaming this on me again?" I shot at him, my voice escalating in anger. I was _really _getting ticked off at that moment. Give me this now of all times even when we're about to…

I chuckled sardonically, shifting my gaze up at the cloudy sky. "Right, I forgot—it's always _Merlin's _fault! Never _Arthur's, _because he's just so _wise!_"

"Cry me a river! We wouldn't be here if you hadn't followed me!"

"It wouldn't have made a difference, clotpole! We'd still have been attacked anyway! They probably planned this from the very beginning!"

Arthur growled, then glared up at me. "Shut up! Just shut up! What did you even want from me in the first place? Hadn't you already done enough in the past week or so? Or do you and Kay still have _more _to talk about?"

I shook my head with discontent and disbelief, then narrowed my eyes at the other, words beginning to spew from my mouth without even a thought. "Oh, me and Kay? You and Lionel! What do you mean, what _I _did in the past week or so? What the hell were _you _doing at the same time? Calling my father stupid, replacing me with a new servant, and oh, right—let's tick Merlin off and _brush_ him off every now and then as if he didn't even exist!"

"What the fuck—why are _you_ speaking in third person? At least I didn't bring my own mother into this!"

"Why are _you _such an arrogant prat? Look at this—you _never_ listen to me, dollophead! And why are we _still _fighting about this, _now_ of all times you could possibly pick?"

"Look out!" the blonde cried, as we narrowly evaded yet another arrow.

Then we started yelling at each other all over again.

"I was so outrageously _stupid_ in believing at the slightest that you could ever be a friend to me, Merlin. I never thought that you would be the one to get me killed someday."

"Me? I was the one who actually wanted to apologize and end it here! I wanted to make things _right. _But then again it can't always be the way you want them to be, can they, Prince _Arse_-r?"

"Augh!"

All. Over. Again.

"If you _really _hate me all that much, then why don't you just let go of my hand right now?"

"Because! _You_ won't let go of _me!_"

"Idiot!"

"Prat-a-lot!"

I was almost on the verge of tears at that point. I'd _never _been so mad, yet at the same time…

"Damn it, Merlin, I'll know from here on out till the day I die that you will never understand how I feel right now."

And that right there just hit a cord in my heart.

"That's not true." I spoke all of a sudden. My voice faltered on that last part, my mouth quivering slightly. "It's _you _who doesn't understand. You never did."

At that moment, Arthur was dead silent, stiffening as he heard these words come out of my mouth.

I swallowed, clenching my fingers around the wood. Then I took a deep breath and continued. "You think all the time that it's _you_ who's being neglected or misunderstood by others in your true heart just because you say you always need to bear _some_ burden by yourself, to be constantly pressured by your father and your people into being the Once and Future King you're expected to be. But you know what, Arthur? You don't _know _how wrong you are when you say that. I'd never thought I'd say this right now, but I am _so _sick of your complaints and how self-conceited you are!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Merlin? You're a _servant, _for heaven's sake—you have absolutely nothing similar compared to what _I _have to go through every day! It's _you _who doesn't understand that burden!"

In that instant, I swore I could feel the very core of my heart begin to break. I didn't know what I was saying anymore. "Really?" I replied bitterly, looking straight into his eyes. Then I held up our hands. "What do you make of what I'm doing, then, _Master?_"

The blonde's eyes widened with surprise, while mine softened with melancholy.

"Wake up already, Arthur—you were _never _alone to start with. It's just that you don't see how much other people can care about you too." I shifted my gaze towards my hand, then paused for a moment and frowned. "…I've _always_ had to consider yourposition…whether I liked it or not, as the _only_ person who's always been at your side for more than a year now." I swallowed, staring back at him.

"And not because I was _supposed _to, but because I wanted to, thinking that it was right. Ever since the moment we first crossed paths, I can't even count how many times I had to cover up for you, to go out of my way just to help your royal ass and make sure you didn't do anything as stupid as this." I lowered my eyes. "Now look where we are. Yet you still haven't bothered to realize that at this point." I winced, gazing directly at the latter. "I _never _meant to hurt you that day, Arthur. I really didn't. But because you haven't been able to understand me once, either…" I trailed off after that, closing my eyes. I didn't even know what words were coming from my mouth at that moment—everything seemed just so confusing to me.

"I don't know—I really _don't_ know what to say anymore. I just want this all to stop."

For a while, it was quiet between the two of us, other than the roar of the rapids from beneath, the faint cries of Cenred's men from the other side of the gorge along with swords clashing and arrows being fired.

And then…I'd heard _him _murmur in a hushed tone. "Merlin…you…"

"You couldn't possibly know how _I'm _feeling—how hard it's been for me right now," I shot back.

Long pause. I almost felt myself shudder from the freezing cold, my body drenched with rainwater.

Then suddenly, I felt him give my hand a slight squeeze, and I opened my eyes to look into his, intent, sincere, and almost puppy-doglike: not entirely _adorable _like Lionel's—but in a way that made the pleading expression on his face…seem genuine to himself alone.

"Merlin…I swear—I didn't know."

But I couldn't answer, and gulped.

Then he winced, looking at the palm of my hand a stricken expression on his face. "..why didn't you ever tell me this before?"

I slowly shook my head, not even realizing the lone tear that began to stream down my right cheek. "It's not like you would have listened to me anyway."

"Merlin…"

"You've already been blinded by your duties enough to realize the truth. I doubt you'd understand this even _now._"

In that instant, Arthur's eyes widened even more, and he grew quiet.

"…that's not true. I—"

That was when all of a sudden, there was another clap of thunder, and more arrows came heading straight towards us, breaking one of the bridge's ropes and sending the two of us hurtling down even closer to the waves below. At that point, I just barely caught the end of the broken rope with my hand, but the Pendragon was now in a critical position.

Not to mention the fact I'd noticed…an arrow sticking out from the back of his right shoulder.

…one that should have been for _me. _I froze.

"Arthur!"

I could hear him cry out in pain and feel him going limp at that moment. I held my breath and looked up to see that Kay had disappeared, the winds growing stronger and stronger every minute. My hand was slowly slipping from the mangled piece of rope I desperately held on to.

Damn it—I didn't think I _could _hold on for much longer. And now that _his _life was in jeopardy before mine…

"Merlin."

I held my breath, then looked down at the blonde still gripping my hand. He closed his eyes, then spoke in a dull tone. "Let go. Save yourself."

In that instant, my eyes widened with horror. "No!" _Not after what he'd done for me just now…_

Suddenly, there was another flash of lightning, and I could feel my fingers getting tired.

"It's the only way. We'll both die. Besides…I was wrong. This is really all _my _fault in the first place."

I swallowed. "No—it's not." I shivered slightly from the cold. "Don't say that. Regardless of anything, your life _always _comes before mine." I winced. "No matter what, you'll always end up being more important than what I'll ever turn out to be."

I exhaled sharply, searching frantically around for something else to hold on to—something would at least be useful for _magic_ at this point. But there was nothing—not even a branch—just rocky walls surrounding us. I clenched my hands and began to panic.

_There's got to be _something _here…_

But there wasn't enough time—and this made me stiffen for a moment in silence.

A thunderbolt, then a crack of thunder.

Arthur groaned in pain.

"Merlin—let go already."

"No! I'm not leaving you to die!" I shouted. "I can save us both! I can do this! Just don't let go!"

Another flash of lightning.

_No… _I thought dejectedly to myself. I let out a cry of frustration, lowering my head with pained eyes.

Then pretty soon, I found myself looking into _his _eyes, sad and forlorn.

"…Merlin—listen to me."

At that point, I looked down at his face with melancholy. "Arthur, I…"

He winced, then gave my hand another earnest squeeze.

"_I'm_ sorry."

In that instant, I held my breath. "…what?"

He chuckled weakly, lowering his head slightly. "For heaven's sake, even in the very end…I still wasn't able to listen to you. I'll regret that at some point in the next life."

I froze, every inch of my body stiff at that moment. It had only taken me a few seconds before it had all finally occurred to me in my shaken mind.

"No…" I spoke in a choked whisper.

Not long after that, I felt his fingers begin to disentangle from my very own, and he began to fall into the depths below. Only then…was I able to wake up from my mental dilemma.

My eyes widened, and my arm mechanically moved to reach helplessly after him.

"Wait! NO!"

_SPLASH._

"Arthur!"

_Thunderclap._

I panicked, searching for the blonde in the raging rapids of the river. "_Arthur!_" I shouted, my eyes darting anxiously across the water. _No—no, no, no, no._

"ARTHUR!"

_This wasn't happening…tell me it wasn't._

But no matter how much I looked, the Pendragon was nowhere to be found. I couldn't see _anything_ but dark, dark waves….

The wind only grew more vigorous after that, and I could only do nothing but numbly latch on tighter to the broken rope as the storm blew me this way and that, my eyes wide with shock.

I held my breath for a moment, then gulped, letting out a strained cry into the heavens, biting my lower lip hard as I watched the rain fall on my face, mixing with angry and bitter tears.

"No!"

I couldn't believe it—I _really _couldn't believe it. It took me more than a while to accept the fact that he was now _gone…_maybe even for good. This time, he became one of those…those that I couldn't save.

_No…not again… _

I gulped, closing my eyes, as memories began to flood through my mind. _Freya…_

_._

_._

_FATHER…_

~xXx~

"_No!"_

~xXx~

At that moment, I began to hear the cries of Cenred's men grow louder as they prepared to aim for me.

Immediately, I opened my eyes to reveal pools of bright amber-gold and yelled at them at the top of my lungs, almost causing the whole area to tremble before me. In an instant, each and every one of them flew off both cliffs, plunging to the very bottom of those monstrous waves and their bodies striking the sharp rocks on the way down.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed furiously, nothing but white-hot light flashing through my mind, my voice echoing throughout the gorge.

~o~

After a long while, the earth stood still again, and the storm had finally subsided, the skies clearer than ever before. The river below me had grown calm, and all of Cenred's men had gone.

But that…wasn't _closely _enough for me, because…

I growled in frustration and hung my head, letting out a strangled sob. _Arthur…_

It's _my _fault.

Pretty soon, I noticed a fair hand being extended out above me, and I looked up with bloodshot eyes to see Sir Kay, his face drenched and somber.

"I saw what happened," the platinum blonde spoke solemnly. "And I'm deeply sorry I couldn't get to you in time."

I winced, lowering my eyes for a moment. Then I lifelessly reached over to take his hand, and he hoisted me up.

~o~

"…what are we going to do now?" the knight asked me with concerned eyes as we walked back into the forest, heading for Cenred's kingdom.

In that instant, I stopped and closed my eyes, speaking in a bitter tone.

"We're going to get Lionel back."

~o~

It was quiet for the next hour. Not another word was said between us as we sat down on a fallen tree to rest shortly once we were a few miles away from that dreaded gorge. But I could still feel Kay's eyes on me as I leaned over to tend the platinum blonde's wounded shoulder.

"Merlin."

He lowered his gaze, then spoke in a sullen tone—the first that had probably ever been said in a long while. "Look…I know what you're going through right now."

I didn't answer and began wrapping the lesion in gauze.

After a few minutes of silence, I heard him again as he chose his words carefully. "I know how much it hurts, but…"

I listen in silence.

"…were you able to at least…tell him how you feel?"

At that moment, an image of Arthur's forlorn face quickly flashed through my mind, and I stiffened slightly, my body cringing instinctively.

"…I don't want to talk about it," I replied in a hushed tone, my voice barely even audible. Then I tightened up that last knot and stood up, turning to leave and hiding the pained expression on my face.

"But…"

"Come on—we have to keep going," I replied dully, forcibly changing the subject entirely.

In that instant, Kay's eyes softened with sadness. Then after a few minutes, he finally brought himself to follow after me.

~o~

Not much to our surprise when we reached the border, we saw plenty of guards standing vigilant both inside and outside Cenred's castle. For a moment, one could say it would be nearly impossible to find a way in or out.

"How are we going to get inside?" the platinum blonde asked just below a whisper.

I slowly shook my head, shifting my gaze towards different sections of the kingdom. "I don't know. We have to find an opening that's _not _being guarded." I paused, glancing over at the drawbridge. "Maybe we can—"

"Merlin. Over here."

I stiffened, then looked to my left to see Kay smiling like a complete idiot, standing in front of what looked like an opening to a secret underground tunnel.

(insert morose sigh here) "…or _that _could work."

The knight chuckled softly. "Come on—they'll never see us coming from here."

I rolled my eyes, then followed after him as soon as I'd seen him enter the dark tunnel without another moment's second thought. You know…as in if this could be—oh, I don't know—a _trap _of some sort? But _no_…

Too many things were going through my head at that point.

(insert sharp exhale here)

~o~

Meanwhile, below in the dungeons of Cenred's castle, the young king himself stood in the midst of his prisoner's presence behind his cell, smirking at him quite deviously. At the same time, Lionel shouted something unintelligible behind the rag that was wrapped over his mouth and fussed a little.

Cenred chuckled evilly, then turned to face his hired henchman as he came in through the cavern doors, getting down on one knee and bowing his head.

"The entrance to the secret tunnel has been uncovered, just like you asked, my lord. It is only a matter of time before Sir Kay of Leone should come in here to rescue the boy."

The brunette raised an eyebrow with content. "Very good. And the others?"

The criminal coughed. "We know for sure that Prince Arthur has been disposed of during our encounter with them at the gorge, despite quite more than a few sacrifices on our behalf."

At that moment, Lionel's ocean blue eyes widened with horror.

The latter grinned devilishly. "That is great news. You shall be compensated for your loss greatly in just moments."

He looked up. "But my king…there is still such a problem—the Prince's servant boy is still alive, and he is accompanying Uther's nephew."

Cenred sighed and turned towards Lionel's cell. "Oh, he is merely nothing to worry about. What harm can the boy do anyway? If he somehow makes things difficult for you or your men, just simply handle the situation however you please, for he is of no use to me anyway—just as long as Kay is left alive. I need only him to get to Uther."

In that instant, a glint appeared in the criminal's eyes. "Of course, my lord—by _any _means necessary." With that, he stood up on his feet and began to exit the castle's dungeon with what looked like an evil smirk on his face…

But at the same time, Cenred condescendingly looked down upon poor Lionel with a dark chuckle.

"Worry not, servant boy. Your master will be here soon to pick you up."

The younger brunette growled, glaring into the king's eyes with contempt.

~o~

"Ow!" Kay hissed, whipping his head back to glare at Merlin. "That was _my_ foot!"

"Sorry," he whispered, raising his hands up in defense. "It's just _so _not dark in here."

The platinum blonde groaned, rolling his eyes. "Well, can you at least find a torch anywhere?" He flailed his arms with incredulity. "Or would you just rather use your 'groundbreaking' _magic?_"

The raven let out an exasperated sigh. "Could you _please_ not mention that again?" he paused for a moment in silence, then looked at the other intently. "Never mind the fire anyway—we might just get caught. We still don't know for sure if this tunnel's being guarded on the other side."

Kay exhaled sharply, then turned around to keep walking. Then after a while, he spoke in a hushed voice. "I won't tell anyone, you know. It's not like I shared any burning hatred for magic, either."

Merlin didn't answer and merely continued to slump behind the blonde in front of him with a depressed expression on his face.

"I'm sorry…I know things are already difficult for you now, especially that Arthur..." He paused, as if to take back his words and rethink them more carefully. "But you can't continue to just go on sulking like this—it'd only make matters even more complicated and upsetting. Knowing my cousin…he probably wouldn't want that, especially for you," he spoke in an unwavering tone.

Silence.

"And if you don't believe a word I'm saying about this, then…then you should at least try to understand how much _I'd_ understand," the blonde spoke softly, lowering his eyes. "I mean…considering the fact that Lionel's one of you, too, and that your circumstances are one and the same."

The raven held his breath.

Kay frowned, his face nonchalant. "Just thought it was right for me to bring that up now. You're not the only one who's had issues like these in the first place. And unlike the cousin that I knew before…at least I found that out _eons _before he ever would. I've been okay with it since," he added solemnly.

In that instant, his eyes widened. But he hung his head as soon as the latter glanced at him over his shoulder.

"…"

~o~

After a while, we began to see a faint trace of light emanating not far from where we were standing. In that instant, the two of us walked towards that direction as quickly as we could and eventually found ourselves in front of two large, wooden doors.

At that point, Kay turned to look at me questioningly, and I looked at the door in a suspicious manner. Then I brought myself to nod once in consent, and we pushed the doors open, finding ourselves inside what looked like the castle's dungeons.

And before I knew it, I'd already seen the platinum blonde begin to rush forward towards an isolated cell, grabbing two of its iron bars with wide eyes.

"Lionel!"

~o~

"Don't worry—you'll be out of there in less than a minute."

I could see the younger brunette sitting on the ground—with his hands tied behind his back and an old rag wrapped tightly over his mouth so that he would not be able to scream or utter a word.

To be frank, Kay was _thrilled _to see his servant alive and breathing where he was—and I couldn't help but smile as well, since I'd never seen him _this _happy before. In fact, it almost reminded me of…never mind.

I sighed, slowly shaking my head, then I began to shift my gaze from the platinum blonde to Lionel, whose eyes for some reason…seemed troubled and distraught.

Not long after that, I'd started to hear him shouting something brisk but unintelligible to his master, his cerulean eyes wide with fear and anxiety.

"Mmmay! Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm! Mmmph!"

At that moment, Kay's forehead crumpled in confusion as to what the latter was trying to tell him. "What's that? I can't understand a word you're saying."

In that instant, Lionel sighed and rolled his eyes. Then he attempted to speak again, this time with what were _supposed _to be tiny hand gestures.

"Hmmm! Hmm-hmm-mmmrap!"

At that point, I swear he was literally dancing in his cell right now, but the knight in front of him was yet to comprehend what he was trying to say. _I _even tried to decode this myself in my own mind. A _bit _suspicious, really…

…but that wasn't until I'd finally sensed an unwanted presence in the room and quickly whirled around to see three of Cenred's soldiers encroaching up on me.

Oh, _cr—_

Immediately, my eyes widened. "Wait, Kay! It's a trap!"

But it was all too late. They'd already attacked us.

I at least managed to fend off a few of them—blowing them away with my magic—until another caught me by my blind spot and punched me in the stomach.

I coughed, dropping to my knees, then watched as Kay struggled with four more of the guards as they tried to grab him by his shoulders, too.

Not long after that, I'd lost consciousness.

~o~

It all happened so quickly after that.

When I woke up, I found myself lying on the floor of Cenred's court, Kay and Lionel right next to me on their knees. And the minute that I'd tried to get up, I'd also noticed that the fool's henchmen were holding us down by the back of our necks.

That was when I'd begun to hear malevolent laughter booming from the front of the room, and I looked up to see Cenred himself, looking down upon us like we were animals of some sort that he wanted to maul up and eat.

"Well done. _Well done._"

He glanced at me, then shifted his gaze towards Kay and smirked. "It seems that you and I have not been properly acquainted yet, Sir Kay. I'm very sure that your…_late _cousin was yet to mention me even once to you, but worry not: at least now we finally get to meet _in person _as I try to make you spill information from that fat head of yours."

The platinum blonde growled, trying to wriggle from the guard's grasp. "What the hell do you want from me, you tyrant? I've absolutely _no_ interest in helping you get what you want, let alone _destroy_ Camelot."

At that moment, the king raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you _do _know me after all. That makes matters a lot easier, then."

Kay clenched his teeth. "Who _wouldn't? _Uther _is _my uncle. But you won't get one word out of me."

Cenred chuckled, grinning even more smugly. "So he is. It's very obvious that you share his _stubbornness _as well…but we shall see if that'll change soon enough." He snapped his fingers, gesturing to his guards. "Take them away."

I swallowed, glancing behind me as the soldier began to drag me away. But as I shifted my gaze over to Kay and Lionel, it was only the brunette that was being followed after me. To my surprise, the platinum blonde had remained alone in front of the king, and he watched in horror as we were pulled out the door.

"Wait! Hold on a second, what are you—"

_Slam._

~o~

Even after the doors had been slammed shut, I could still hear the faint sound of Kay yelling at Cenred from the far end of the hallway. Soon after that, I briefly looked over at Lionel, then back at the guard who was holding me captive. Walking a few feet behind him was only who I could assume to be the leader of Cenred's henchmen.

"Where are you taking us?" Lionel asked anxiously, the rag finally removed from his mouth. "What are you going to do with Kay?"

"_Quiet, _you," the chief criminal snarled, glaring a thousand daggers at him. "Unless you want me to stick a _brick _down that throat of yours this time."

From that point, it became silent as we reached the dungeon.

~o~

After a few minutes, we finally stopped in a dark corner of the dungeon—a cave of some sort with just the faintest sliver of light barely illuminating the room.

Then, before I knew it, we were shoved into opposite directions—on _opposite _sides of the shadowy cavern.

Pretty soon, I ended up crashing into the wall and heard the sound of a metal cage door slamming shut and locked. Only then did I realize my scarf wasn't around my neck at that point.

I groaned, putting my hand over my head, then turned around to grab the iron bars, struggling to budge it open. But it wouldn't. I watched as the guards laughed heartily at me, turning to leave us the way we were.

I let out an exasperated sigh, hanging my head with my fingers wrapped around the cold thick metal. Then a second later, I whispered an incantation under my breath, opening my eyes wide—azure blue fading into vivid amber.

But very much to my surprise, nothing happened to the cage door. I shrank back in astonishment, my eyes wide.

"That won't work _here_," I heard one of them say. "We're not as stupid as you think."

In that instant, I took that chance to ask the very question myself. "What _is_ this place! Where have you taken us?"

At that moment, the leader of Cenred's henchmen turned to look me in the eye with an impish smirk on his face. "Oh, just a little _special _treatment for you two."

I looked back at him, perplexed.

Then I noticed him briefly divert his gaze towards the marks of the old religion engraved on the cage lock and back at me. "Don't worry about it—we _know _what kind of creatures _you _two are," the criminal cackled. "Don't think you sorcerers can fool an _expert _bounty hunter."

In that instant, I stiffened, my eyes bulging even more with horror.

The latter chuckled darkly, turning to leave the cave with his men. "Rest up, now. We'll make a fine price later on once we hand you over to your King himself back in Camelot."

I held my breath after they disappeared from the room, and it became a bit darker since there was no longer any torch light.

~o~

_Creak._

No matter what I did or said, the door in front of me still wouldn't budge—and no matter how much I stared at the ground, my scarf was absolutely nowhere in sight After a while, I finally gave up, letting go of the iron bars and sinking to the floor. I closed my eyes, putting my hand to my forehead, and let out a sigh of frustration.

"How are we going to get out of here?"

"…I don't know," I murmured.

"…this is all my fault for getting caught in the first place," the young brunette murmured. "If it weren't for me, none of us would even _be_ here in the first place." He let out a sigh. "I'm so _stupid…_"

"Don't talk like that," I replied in a hushed tone. "If it weren't for you, he would have probably been in more danger. You were right and brave enough to protect him like that." I paused briefly. "Besides…I know for a fact that Kay truly acknowledged what you did as an act to save his life. He himself told me he'd owe you dearly for that one. Look what he's done for you now."

"…"

~o~

Silence filled the cavern later on at that moment…until I heard his quiet voice from the other side of the room—Lionel's voice.

"So…you're one of them, too?"

"…"

In that instant, I hesitated slightly, then lowered my hand, raising my head to wearily look back at the young brunette. "…as are you," I spoke reluctantly.

He stared at me with an anxious countenance on his face.

I sighed softly and closed my eyes again, clenching my hand into a fist and whispering one simple word of enchantment. Then I carefully extended my arm out towards him in the empty space between us and slowly opened my eyes once more as I relieved my hand, revealing the slightest flame of _fire._

His eyes widened upon seeing this at first, two tears running down both of his cheeks. But after a few seconds, he lifted up his own hand to expose an orange ember similar to mine.

My eyes couldn't help but soften as I gazed upon the glowing flames, still as the light of a candle. Then I closed my hand and put it down, lowering my gaze as well.

But Lionel decided to keep his ablaze so that there was at least a bit more light in the room. His face grew solemn for a minute. Then after a while, he brought to speak again in a hushed tone.

"…I'm sorry I didn't tell you any sooner. I had absolutely no idea you were…"

"I understand," I replied in a sullen tone, raising my head to look up at him. "I know what it's like, so of course I'd never blame you."

There was a long pause.

~o~

"My mother was a magic user, too," the brunette spoke softly, looking at me with innocent eyes. "But she died during the Great Purge, and I'd had no one to take care of me." He frowned. "After that, Kay's father found me half-dead when I was a child and took me in as Kay's personal servant since he couldn't bear it in his heart to ever _adopt_ me as one of his own, despite his genuine kindness towards me."

I winced and replied as sincerely as I could. "How did Kay react when he found out you were a sorcerer?"

He was silent, then let out a sigh. "Well…he was rather upset with me at first—I can tell you that. Kay never did like it when I kept secrets from him, even if I'd only hidden one since then." He chuckled weakly. "But it wasn't like it was a careless mistake when he'd caught me red-handed. I mean…all my life, I've always been afraid of my powers and never freely used magic to second nature, even if there were chances when I could do it behind everyone's backs. So I never had much trouble hiding my abilities—just when times were desperate and I'd no choice _but _to use magic." He looked down at the flame in his hand. "And when Kay _did _see me using real magic…it was one of those times when I'd had to protect him from the very brink of death itself."

I listened with a somber expression on my face. How very much did this one remind me of someone I knew...maybe even myself for a little bit.

"…did he tell anyone else?"

Lionel swallowed. "No—of course he didn't. Even though he'd always been so arrogant and self-conceited with me most of the time…he was actually grateful to me after a while and eventually brought himself to understand. To be frank, he was kind enough to keep this secret between the two of us for a change, although Ector doesn't know a bit about it, either. We were afraid that even if he did keep it a secret as well, there would still be the chance that Uther would find out…" He paused, then looked into my eyes curiously.

"Did Arthur ever find out about your powers?"

I frowned, folding my hands together and briefly lowering my head. "No." I stared back at him nonchalantly, then down at my wrists, my voice faltering. "I've actually never told him anything about it, more or less even _shown _him." I paused. "…although we probably had it just the same as you two,…he always _did_ have the same hatred for magic as his father, so I'd never gotten the chance to tell him even when I'd wanted to for so long. I've probably hidden my magic from him since…" I let out a sigh. "…I don't know anymore."

I winced slightly. _…not like it would matter now…_

I closed my eyes and exhaled sharply as I began to feel yet another burning image of the dollophead's face in the corner of my mind, now lost forever to the dark waters of that blasted river.

"…"

But that wasn't until my head grew light all of a sudden—almost at peace for just a brief second. In that instant, I stirred, then slowly shifted my gaze towards the young brunette, whose eyes were now glowing bright amber.

He looked at me with sad eyes, then tried to smile as much as he possibly could for me. "…I'm really sorry about what happened."

At that moment, I grinned weakly at Lionel, then lowered my gaze back to my hands folded over my knees.

"…it's not your fault," I spoke just above a whisper. _It's mine._

I noticed his eyes soften that time.

"I…"

I winced, then opened my mouth to speak to him again, but that wasn't until…

_BANG._

~o~

Immediately, Lionel and I rose our heads to see that the two guards had returned, storming towards each of us and yanking the cage doors open so that they were towering right over us.

"What do you want now?" I shouted at the one in front of me, backing away from him as much as I could.

But then I stopped soon after I noticed a coil of rope wrapped around one of the latter's arms and glanced behind him to see the young brunette looking back at me with a scared expression on his face.

I swallowed as I gazed up at the man before me, who grinned malevolently as he approached. "Boss wants us to make sure his _canaries_ don't end up escaping from their cages before he gets all his money," the soldier chuckled menacingly. He smirked, then began to unwind the rope from his left arm and reached for me. "He wants us to do _whatever it takes._"

At that point before I knew it, I already found myself cornered with no place to go until he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward.

And at the same time…I didn't know why this happened, but of all things I could have done in that instant, I ended up screaming a word at the top of my lungs: a _name _I'd never realized I'd subconsciously had lingering in the very base of my throat.

"ARTHUR!"

~o~

_Chirp. Chirp._

Meanwhile in the heart of the Forest of Gedref, a familiar figure could be seen lying on his back beside the very end of a nearby river, birds abundant in the trees nearby. His golden blonde hair was soaking wet and mussy, and his eyes were closed shut.

But after a while, he began to cough a little and groaned, putting his hand on his forehead and raising his head to open his tired eyes to observe his surroundings at that point, which appeared to be quite a blur at first.

"Where am I…"

Although he'd held his breath as soon as he realized just _where _he was at that moment, recalling the very events that had happened recently before that.

Immediately, his eyes widened, and he quickly began to get up. But that wasn't until he'd found the edge of a white cloak hovering a mere inch before him and stiffened.

"What the—"

Then he'd heard a deep but familiar voice boom at him all of a sudden.

"So—it seems that you have finally awakened, my Prince."

Instinctively, the blonde whipped his head up to look at the stranger, who was holding a unique cane of some sort and had withering grey-white eyebrows, a hood just hovering over his pale eyes.

"Who the hell are _you?_" the Pendragon asked absent-mindedly.

In that instant, the latter looked down at the Prince with an expression so serious that in just seconds, Arthur recognized the old man just by looking at his face.

"Oh—_oh._ Never mind, I know who you are. You're that unicorn guy from before…"

"_Anhora,_" the elderly figure replied sternly.

"Right," the blonde added, nodding his head once in agreement. "Sorry about that." He sighed, then looked into the man's eyes questioningly. "Wait—hold on a minute—what are _you _doing here again!" He cried, his eyes filled with utter incredulity.

The latter was silent.

Arthur sat up even more in that instant to glare at the old man before him. "Good Lord—what wrong have I done to you _this time_, sorcerer? Don't you dare tell me I need to be punished again because I _swear_ I haven't hunted off any more of your damn unicorns recently…"

At that moment, Anhora's face grew stern. "Young Prince, you are still as hasty and careless as before. I advise that you do not make the same mistake by not taking this time to heed my words to you first."

The latter grew silent and listened to the old man with a reluctant expression.

Anhora lowered his eyes, then spoke in a quieter tone. "You of all people should realize by now that I obtain absolutely no personal gains, now or ever, from tending to the unicorns of this forest." He looked up at the Pendragon. "My meeting here with you at this point is not at all for me…" His gaze became intent.

Arthur took a deep breath, looking up at the sky. "This _had _better be good. I'm in a hurry right now, so if _somebody _isn't dying this instant…"

"…but for the very unicorn whose life you and your servant just so happened to _threaten_ this past week or so, if you may remember so well yourself," he altered his tone with emphasis on that last part, narrowing his gaze at the young Prince.

At this, the blonde stiffened.

"Oh."

He paused for a minute, then shrank back slightly as the elderly man finished the comment with a raised eyebrow. "Er…_that, _huh?" He stood there for a long pause, then began scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Right…guess that's important, then…" He took a deep breath and sighed. "All right—I'm pretty sure I can perfectly explain about that one…" The Pendragon looked at Anhora, then exhaled sharply. "Fine—I'll admit that one was definitely _my _fault. But mind you, couldn't we settle this later by any chance? I've been separated from my friends, and I really need to go look for them right now. If you're here to tell me that you're going to make me take that terrible test of yours again—"

"Of course not," the elder cut in hoarsely. "You've after all already just shown me once more how pure your heart truly is…which is, you could say, why you stand here alive and breathing at this very moment—unless you haven't already learned from the past week or so. "

"What?" the other shot back confusedly. "_Now _what do you mean by—"

Then in that instant upon hearing those words, the Prince held his breath as it all just began to occur in his head. Not long after that, the pieces of the puzzle in his mind slowly came together at that moment…

"Hang _on!_" Thoughts began to flood through Arthur's mind at the same time: the spats, the jealousy, the incompetent arguing, the _bridge, _all leading back to the morning of that _very _day…

The blonde's eyes widened with incredulity and irk. "_You._ So it was _you _all along. You set me up so I'd make an absolute fool of myself out there." He shrank back as the gear just started to turn again in his mind, then he frowned. "You couldn't _possibly_ mean that all this time, you've been—" he broke off abruptly with an open mouth when he saw a look of interest appear on the other's face.

Immediately, the Prince fumed, then he looked down at his feet and back at the river behind him.

"I can't believe this. Again? You _do_ realizethat this time, because of your actions to try and _punish_ me_, I_ seriously could have been—"

"Had I not _stepped in_ before the rapids drowned you and swept you towards the rocks, yes," Anhora replied curtly. "You _would _have been dead." He closed his eyes. "Had you not given yourself the chance to show me your selflessness by genuinely sacrificing your life for another."

"What…" At that moment, _that _event began to flash through his mind—the raging river…the stricken expression on _his _face…

Arthur closed his mouth and turned away from the man, who paused for a second to clear his throat.

"It was not my choice to go through with this, young one," Anhora spoke shrewdly. "Although it seems rather much to me that _Merlin_ has helped you yet again. You are lucky to have such a servant with a heart as pure as yours. It is wrong to take a friendship like this for granted."

The blonde grew silent and still.

"Besides…you _needed _it, boy." The elder closed his eyes and exhaled. "Indeed, how very generous for Merlin to do such a thing unconditionally…but never mind that for now. There are other matters that I must concern you with." He paused to stare at the latter, his back still turned to him. "At this moment, _he_ has become the one who needs _you_. The friends that you claim to be looking for are now in grave danger, imprisoned in the castle dungeons of the tyrant King Cenred."

At this, the Pendragon flinched and whirled around. He gazed intently into the other's pale eyes and swallowed.

"…_what?_"

Anhora frowned and stared flatly at the latter standing before him.

Arthur waved his hands in disbelief, then spoke in a sarcastic tone. "And how could you possibly know this? You don't even know the one of the friends I'm talking about." He paused, his jaw tensing. "This isn't another one of your _tests? _Tell me already, old man, I've got no time for this."

Silence.

He sighed, then spoke unwaveringly. "Look—I really don't want to be rude to you at this point, but it's rather _important_ that I get to them as soon as possible. If you say that this matter has already been settled, then fine. Just let me leave now so that I can go and save them myself."

Anhora paused for a long minute, then spoke in a cautious voice. "Let me finish, and you _will. _You must hurry, my Prince. The one whom you have come to know so well as your cousin has already been taken captive. It will not be long before Cenred begins to carry out the gist of his plan to take down the kingdom you cherish so much and later on your friends down along with it. That is as far as I know and no more than that."

Arthur clenched his jaw, his countenance apprehensive in that instant. "Fine."

"…however, the only other thing I _can_ say is this: you _will _in fact be in need of _some _assistance at the very least from this point forward," the elder added. With that, he took a few steps aside to reveal a dazzling horse with a magnificent horn on its head—one that seemed so _oddly _familiar to the blonde himself…

In that instant, the Pendragon held his breath as he looked up to see the elegant unicorn, his eyes widening tenfold.

"_What _the—"

The old man's face grew serious. "It is your choice whether you would like to heed my words again, Arthur Pendragon, for I have already helped you thus far. Do _not_ be rash by trying to handle this situation alone." He narrowed his eyes. "For time has become of the very essence."

The blonde swallowed, staring back at the latter. Then before he knew it, Anhora disappeared from his very sight, and all became silent as it had been previously.

After that, he was left there…just _gawking _at empty air, debating with himself in the idea of whether he really was awake and in his right mind or not.

~o~

…_all right, _Arthur thought to himself as he made his way through the Forest of Gedref, glancing down at the unicorn he was riding on as they rushed past the trees. _So you're listening to that crazy old man again. He could literally be out of his mind for all I know, or probably even worse—he could just be tricking me this time since he's a sorcerer—no, a _giant goblin _that spends most of his life raising bloody _unicorns,_ and all that I'm going to accomplish here is obviously just going to be complete and utter cr—"_

Immediately, the magical creature stopped in its tracks as soon as it reached a nearby border, among which resided Cenred's kingdom. The Pendragon exhaled sharply, then got off the horned horse to peer out into the distance at the tyrant's castle.

At that point, numerous guards could be seen surrounding the castle vigilantly, and he slowly shook his head.

_Okay, then…maybe he wasn't lying after all. Perhaps they did happen to make it this far to go and tried to rescue Lionel without me._

_._

_._

_OR…maybe they just got caught._

The blonde let out another sigh, then turned to find a way to get into the premises without being spotted. But that wasn't until he stepped on what he saw to be a red rag lying in the tall grass…a _scarf, _to be even more specific.

In that instant, he recognized it and bent down to pick it up in his hands. He frowned, rolling his eyes in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner.

_Scratch that—I'll say that _both_ of them were definitely stupid enough to get caught by Cenred's men and ended up getting themselves into a bunch of trouble while I was gone._

Arthur took a deep breath and rose up to his feet, still holding the scarf lightly in his hand. Then at the same time, only a few feet in front of him, he found himself looking at what looked like an entrance to a dark tunnel, purposefully overexposed out in the open and may as well could have had "POSSIBLE TRAP" written all over it. But of course…Kay probably wouldn't have been one to catch that the first time around anyway, considering how blatantly impatient he is when it _doesn't _come to fighting close combat. And Merlin…one wouldn't even start with _Merlin._

With that, the blonde stuffed the red scarf in his pocket and took out his sword, stepping forward into the underground tunnel.

_Good grief, Merlin…I really am sorry for saying this again after all that we've _just _been through, but…the plain fact can't be helped that you _really _are a bumbling idiot._

~o~

The room was quiet...and freezing.

I coughed and sat in the corner of my cage, curled up on the cold hard floor. I couldn't move as much as wriggle my fingers or shift around slightly from where I was.

My hands were tied behind my back, and the rest of my body was bound with rope—and chains bearing marks of the old religion so that when I'd tried to use magic to escape, I'd end up choking myself as they tightened around my chest. Not to mention the fact that a rag that looked so strangely similar to the red scarf I was missing was wrapped tightly over my mouth—except that it wasn't mine, considering how run-down and filthy it was.

Now that I think of it right now…_ugh—_I _really _wanted to wash my mouth out that instant. It smelled really bad and made it even harder for me to breathe.

God knows _where_ the hell this thing had probably been, and I shuddered just from thinking about it.

I let out a sigh and rested my head on the stone floor in the dim light, staring across the cavern to see poor Lionel in the same position, except he was actually sitting up against the wall with that _forlorn_, puppy-dog expression on his face.

(insert sharp exhale here) Good Lord, it even made _me _wonder what _I _looked like at that moment. For all I knew, I probably looked a lot more pitiful than he did. But then again, I wasn't the one who had huge, sparkling ocean blue eyes.

I frowned, then rolled over on my back to gaze up at the ceiling, my mind sinking deep into thought. In those next few minutes, I kept wondering what would possibly become of us later on, what with all this happening and whatnot.

As a matter of fact, Cenred could be most likely giving Kay one _hell _of a time right now, torturing him as much as he could to force even the smallest amount of information about Camelot from his very mouth. But knowing the platinum blonde himself…he was just as hard-headed as his own cousin—haha.

…and _speaking_ of Kay's cousin…who shall temporarily not be named for the sake of my own sanity…

I closed my eyes for a second.

.

.

All right—I'm missing Prince Dollophead. So what?

I took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply as an image of _him _began to fade in through my mind—with that _stupid _smirk on his face…that fluffy blonde hair that just so happened to flow with the wind every now and then…those bouncing, aquamarine irises…

(insert sound of scratching record here) What the hell am I thinking? I swear that last time I checked, I was _not _a "lovestruck" princess of _any_ of the sort.

…oh Christ, I'm pretty sure that just about ruined my train of thought right then and there.

(insert sigh and possible facepalm here) Who am I kidding? At this point, I could already picture that royal imbecile laughing impishly at me…with that _supercilious _expression.

And you know what? He probably _was _making fun of me right now…wherever the hell he was. (I take that last part back deep down.)

(insert sarcastic chuckle here) _Yeah—keep laughing, clotpole._

Look at this…I'm _already _talking to myself (hopefully not out loud). I'm going absolutely mad here, aren't I?

Silence.

Fine, then—don't answer. Who asked _you_ in the first place?

…I take that back. (insert sigh here)

~o~

_(Much later on after that…)_

"_Merlin."_

.

.

"_Merlin…"_

.

.

"_Mer-lin!"_

.

…I really think I'm dreaming—maybe even _hallucinating_, what's worse—but I swear to God, it was like the voice only got louder and louder the more that I tried to ignore it.

And for one thing…it _definitely _wasn't Lionel.

"Merlin! For the _love _of God, wake up, you idiot!"

(insert mental shudder) All too familiar…too _damn _familiar…

I swear—that _image _of _him _was still yet to disappear from my mind, which made me begin to get the idea that his ghost was trying to curse me off or something…haha.

"Merlin."

Oh, _great—_now it's talking to me. You're really out of your mind here, Merlin. Snap out of it.

Sigh.

I didn't even fully realize I was still asleep at that point—yet it was almost like his voice was literally _yelling _in my ear.

"MERLIN!" the figment boomed demandingly.

(insert dramatic gasp here) Oh, God—what if it really _was _his ghost, here to like…_steal_ _my soul_ or something?

Suddenly, I heard an impatient, frustrated groan not far from where I was—as if the very source of it was hovering _right _over me. And it all sounded so _real…_

Bloody _hell_—hasn't that prat already done enough to what's left my remaining sanity?

"Mer_lin!"_

At that moment, I held my breath. No—it had to be a trick. It couldn't _possibly _be him right now…

But that wasn't until I began to feel a hand begin to repeatedly slap my cheek.

"Come on, you lazy bum…"

And now it's assaulting me.

"Get _up_…"

Oh my _gosh…_

At that point, I couldn't move a muscle and kept my eyes shut. God knew what the hell was _really _going on here…and unless he'd somehow tell me in some shape, way, or form, I wouldn't dare look up at the hallucination.

With that being said, I cleared my mind for a minute and thought quietly to myself.

_...well?_

No answer.

_Fine, then—be that way._

(insert mental sigh here)

_Good _heavens…

And that was when he'd finally given me a sign out of coincidence—the most _obvious _sign you'd ever get in your _life._

It all started when the "figment" stopped harassing my cheek and pulled back away from me for just a brief moment to take a deep breath.

"…"

Then he'd begun to speak again in an exhausted, irritated tone.

"All right, Merlin. That's it. You've already ticked me off _this _much. You need to wake up _now_—I really don't have time for this rubbish."

I didn't answer.

A sharp exhale from him. "Damn it, there has to be _something _here that'll wake you up…and you're damn lucky there's no bucket of cold water around for me to dump over that thick head of yours."

_I'll bet there isn't, _I thought to myself.

"**Merlin.**"

No reply.

At that point, I'd heard him let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine then—be that way."

In that instant, I couldn't help but mentally chuckle to myself. Wow—imagination or not, it _still_ paid off to really give him hell right now, which made me _not _want to wake up even more.

"_Merlin…_" the latter hissed.

And it would get even better after that. (insert snicker here)

Silence.

The "aberration" paused for a minute and impatiently buried his face in the palms of his hands, clenching his teeth.

But then he raised his head with a new idea he had in his mind and took a deep breath. "All right. We'll try something of _yours, _then. Now _that, _or at least _one _of them ought to wake you up."

At that moment, I began to _wonder _about this one…haha.

That was when he stood up on his feet and waved his hands at me like a complete imbecile.

"RISE AND SHINE!" the Prince exclaimed in the most pitiful mock imitation of me.

(insert stifled laugh here) Now it was _really _hard not to laugh out loud in his face. I wouldn't be surprised if even the _smallest _chuckle escaped from my lips that instant. But I kept myself silent and listened as the dollophead frustratingly groaned in utter defeat. Without a doubt if that really was him, that had been probably the most _idiotic _thing I could ever get him to do.

He let out another sharp exhale and stared down at me with annoyed eyes. "_God, _you're pushing it_…_you really are, aren't you?"

(me mentally smirking impishly to myself) _Sure—why not?_

At that point, I was about to finally let out every single bit of laughter that I was trying so hard to hold back at that moment—but that wasn't until I found myself in a tight chokehold all of a sudden, a semi-muscular arm wrapped around my neck.

A self-satisfied huff. "Well, then—_this _surely ought to wake you up."

Before I knew it, his fist was pressed harshly against the very top of my head—as if he were trying to dig into my skull with his bare knuckles.

In an instant, my eyes fluttered open in surprise, and I immediately looked around the room to search for the latter, crying out in muffled pain.

"Hmm!" I uttered at the person holding me.

At that moment, I heard a mischievous chuckle from behind me, and then a voice speak in a hearty tone. "You awake yet, Merlin? Or are you _still _asleep at this point?"

I winced and mumbled loudly in response, which was supposed to be a "_Yes! Yes! I'm awake, damn it!" _but came out as "Mmm! Mmm! Mm-mm—_mmm!_"

But after a while, he finally let go of me with a smug grin, and I raised my hand to rub the top of my hair, then turn around to look at my "assailant" at this moment in time, still laughing impishly in my face.

At first, I began to frown discontentedly at the idiot latter before me…but that wasn't until I saw two pools of genuine sapphire staring back at me in bouncing humor, along with a mess of blonde hair and a condescending grin.

With that, my eyes widened in disbelief, and my whole mind went blank that instant.

_Him… _I thought to myself at that moment.

Then I watched as the blonde came over to untie my hands free from the bounds that were holding them and felt his slender fingers quickly work around mine…

Immediately, I'd held my breath. _It really was __**him…**_

"Arthur…"

At the same time, I found myself speechlessly gazing into the Prince's eyes as he chuckled at incredulous look I had on my face at that moment.

Pretty soon, he was done with the rope and chains, and raised his hand to point at the rag around my mouth, laughing playfully at me.

"Well, I must say _that's _a new one right there, Merlin. Never thought I'd see that old thing wrapped anywhere else other than around that scrawny neck of yours." He smirked, then began to take it off. "But now it looks like I've found another way to get you to actually shut up now when I want you to."

I rolled my eyes, then looked at him with a sarcastic expression on my face. "Very funny," I spat out as he threw the dilapidated rag aside and took another out of his pocket to give me the one that I'd dropped previously.

I sighed, then took the red scarf from his hand and began to meticulously tie it around my neck.

Then Arthur took a deep breath and got up on his feet. "All right—I'm alive, you're free. Glad that's settled then," he spoke with a sharp exhale, heading for the door. "We should probably be going—"

Immediately, the Prince had abruptly stopped mid-sentence when all of a sudden he noticed a pair of pale, thin arms wrap around his very torso in that instant and glanced back for a moment in surprise to see me burying my face into his back.

I held my breath for a minute, then tightened my grip around him as if I was afraid he'd disappear again (which I was), almost like I was giving _him _a bear hug this time to compensate for all those other times that he'd done the same in his sleep. And for once in my life at that point…I really didn't care what his reaction was to this.

Though that wasn't until he'd cleared his throat from out of the blue, and I'd realized I'd almost forgotten that he _was _after all, the _heir to the throne of Camelot._

"Merlin?"

A minute's hesitation. "…yes, sire?"

.

.

.

.

"…what are you doing?"

In that instant, I exhaled sharply and quickly backed away from the blonde with an astonished look on my face, my mouth dropped open with awe as he looked back at me with dubious eyes.

"Er…" I began in a nervous tone, scratching the back of my head. "Well, I—"

Arthur sighed, putting his head to his forehead, then looked at me with a flat expression.

"Oh…what the hell? Come here," he spoke lightly, wrapping his arms around me in that instant. He exhaled sharply, then closed his eyes. "Merlin, you _bumbling_ idiot—I never thought I'd ever say this, but you absolutely have no idea how long actually I've missed _you_ this far."

At first, I'd hesitated for a moment, staring back at him with reluctant eyes. But then I chuckled softly and raised my own arms to return the favor.

He smirked, briefly patting the back of my torso, then pulled back to put his hand on my shoulder.

"All right—show's over."

With that, he grabbed my arm and yanked me out of my cell before I could even say a word.

~o~

We'd ran down several hallways, avoiding as many guards as possible before we'd finally escaped through the nearest inconspicuous exit into the dark forest, where Kay and Lionel stood there waiting apprehensively for us.

In that instant, my eyes widened with incredulity. "Wait—how'd they get out so quickly without getting caught?"

Arthur grinned smugly and glanced at me with self-absorbed eyes. "Long story short."

Before I knew it, the warning bells were already ringing, and hundreds of Cenred's soldiers were chasing us down from a few feet away with torches in their hands and angry looks on their faces.

"Don't let them get away!" one cried.

At that moment, I rolled my eyes, slowly shaking my head at him. "Brilliant—just _brilliant._"

He chuckled, then started to run even faster until the four of us had disappeared around a nearby corner.

~o~

**Notes for the KIT-chan~**

Phew…hope that wasn't _too _long. =w=" This chapter had to be split up _somehow _(which is why this one didn't end up being the last. ^^")

Hope you enjoyed this one though! The next one'll be up soon—I can definitely promise you that! ^_^"; (Plenty of spring break to go… XD)

_Reviews would be appreciated muchly~! =^w^=_

(*Note: Fanart for this found on my LJ in case you wanna see~ XD)

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.


	7. Chapter 7: The Whispering Breeze

**Gives You Hell**

_**Chapter 7: The Whispering Breeze**_

**Rating~ **T

**Characters~ **Arthur & Merlin

**Disclaimer~ **Owning Merlin is Arthur's job—not mine. XD

**Warnings~ **SLASH, slight jealousy/paranoia (don't ask XD), attempts for very _minimal _OOC, mild quarrels, and (sometimes suggestive?) humor

**Music on My Mind~ **What the Hell by Avril Lavigne (don't own, but thought it'd be a good song to end this story with w)

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

NOW I can say (in one of those epic-ly awesome narrator's voices that you hear in _The Twilight Zone _or something—Rod Serling FTW XD) that you have reached the FINAL chapter of the story. OwO

There—I said it. XD Enjoy~ :D

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.

***UPDATE: **A new addition to the very end of this chapter if you've already read this... XD

~o~

We waited as the guards ran past us that instant, then relaxed as soon as they were out of sight.

I let out a sigh, turning my head to look at Kay, who was grinning smugly at me at that moment as he stuck out his tongue at me to effortlessly peel off a tiny key hidden from underneath.

Immediately, I stared at him with disbelief. "Why, _you_—"

"Shh—there's more of them," Arthur spoke abruptly, waving his hand in my face.

I frowned and leaned back against the wall with irritation, glancing over to see the superprat platinum wink at me mischievously. And from behind, I only saw Lionel shrug his shoulders at me blamelessly.

At this, I could do nothing but put my hand to my forehead and exhale sharply. _All this time, he could have _at least—

That was when Prince Clotpole took my hand again and led me yet in another direction. "All right—the coast is clear. Let's go."

After that, not another word was said.

~o~

At some point later on, we'd come to a stop in front of the back gate, which we'd found to be closed shut and locked for the time being.

A dead end.

I sucked in a gulp of air, then put my hands on my head in mock shock at that moment, speaking in a sarcastic tone. "Oh _no, _we're _trapped._" I shifted my gaze towards Arthur, who was observing the chained up gate that instant, and sighed. "What the hell do you suggest we do _now, _Prince _Prat-a-lot—_"

Abruptly, I was cut off when this time, _both _prats turned around to roll their eyes at me and speak in equally arrogant, annoyed tones.

"MERLIN. _Shut. Up,_" the two of them replied in unison.

At that moment, I was at a complete loss for words. _Now _he decides to take his cousin's side for once…great.

From behind me, I heard Lionel stifle a slight chuckle.

I exhaled sharply, then looked over my shoulder to slowly shake my head at the brunette and shrugged my shoulders myself.

But that wasn't until we'd begun to hear footsteps in the distance and stared ahead to see the light of a torch illuminating the castle walls, the shadow of two guards walking in its midst.

In that instant, I turned around to look the two blondes anxiously, and quickly, we started to search for somewhere to hide.

Though unfortunately, we were literally _out in the open, _so anything was pretty much useless to us at that point.

I listened as the soldiers' footsteps reverberated closer and closer towards where we were all standing this instant…

That was when Kay had come across a pile of old clothing in a random cart of hay nearby and picked it up, briskly holding them out towards us in haste.

"Hurry—put these on. It's our only chance."

Immediately, Arthur and I stared back at him as if he'd grown two heads just now—with me suddenly thinking of all the possibilities of who the hell might have worn those clothes in the first place and why they'd just flat out leave them there coincidentally to our convenience.

But then again, we had no time to argue about this and swiftly grabbed the old garments from the platinum's hands.

~o~

_(Moments later in a general perspective…)_

Before long, the two guards had emerged from around the castle, approaching the gate with discontent expressions on their faces.

"Who's there?" one called in a strident voice, peering out into the silent darkness.

No response.

The soldier narrowed his eyes, taking a step forwards to get a better look, then sighed in defeat and began to walk away, shrugging at his fellow comrade behind him.

But that wasn't until he'd heard an abrupt clatter coming from a stray cart sitting near the back gate, and quickly whirled around to catch two silhouettes peeking from behind the cart itself, then hurriedly hide themselves again.

Instantaneously, the other guard cried out vociferously. "Show yourself this instant!"

Not long after that, the torch was shone towards the shadows of the night, revealing two _tall_ and rather handsome boys with blonde hair gripping each other's necks as if they were planning to strangle one another.

~o~

_(What __**really **__happened…)_

"I can't believe I'm wearing _women's _clothing right now," I spoke in a dull tone, rolling my eyes at Prince _Arse-_r next to me, who was dressed in the outfit of a casual blacksmith's son, matching with his idiot cousin with their flat hats and grimy buttondowns.

The blonde sighed, then looked at me in disbelief. "Come on, Merlin—you're the only one here who can fit in the _other _damn dress besides Lionel. There's nothing else, so live with it for just a few minutes. It'll be over before you know it." I exhaled sharply and crossed my arms over my chest with a cross expression on my face.

At that moment, Arthur shook his head and glanced out to keep watch on the guards in the distance. I turned my head to briefly stick my tongue out at him disdainfully.

In that instant, I heard Kay chuckle impishly from next to the clotpole, and I shifted my gaze to see him clutching his chest mockingly.

He snickered and snorted once. "Sorry…it's just that it—it actually kind of suits you, Merlin. I—ahahaha…"

Immediately, I frowned and ended up kicking the latter with my foot, sending both him and Arthur toppling out into the open.

Before I knew it, a light was shone over the cart in less than a second.

"You _idiot! _What the hell—" the Prince hissed indignantly at me. But then Kay covered his mouth and shushed him before he could say any more, pushing his head down to hide his face.

"Keep your head down already unless you want to get caught," the platinum blonde retorted, scolding his younger cousin as if he were a child.

Immediately, Prince Dollophead closed his mouth and began to pout in that instant.

"Kay—I swear that if you do _anything_ rash right now, I'll _kill _you where you stand."

At that moment, I chortled under my breath. Oh my gosh—now _this_…had somewhat amused me.

Kay chuckled softly as Arthur began to fume from under the palm of his hand, then to my surprise, he briefly glanced at me and winked.

~o~

_(Present)_

"Who are you," the guard demanded crossly, "and what is your business here?"

At that moment, Kay cleared his throat and let go of his cousin that instant, facing them with aplomb.

"Oh," the platinum spoke nonchalantly in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, as if he'd just recognized their presence. Then he smiled and spoke in a chivalrous manner. "I'm sorry—I _do_ apologize if we're trespassing. You see, the two of us here were just—"

"What are you _children_ doing out here in the middle of the night?" the soldier spat out impatiently.

In that instant, I looked at the guard from behind the cart with an absolutely incredulous look on my face.

_Really? Really now?_

"But I'm not—" Arthur began to retort.

Immediately, Kay covered the latter's mouth, holding him in a chokehold so that he couldn't speak. He chuckled, staring back at the soldiers.

"Please _excuse_ my baby brother here—he tends to have the _strangest _outbursts every now and then…"

At that moment, the blonde's mouth dropped open in disbelief, and the platinum went so far as to rub his fist playfully but rather a bit too _harshly _against the very top of the other's head, which actually _reminded _me…

I stifled a chuckle as the dollophead's face began to flush red with anger.

_Oh, God…this is _too _much…_

But before I knew it, the light was already shining over me and Lionel.

"Come out of there, you two!" the other guard roared.

In that instant, I frowned with disdain. _Oh…crap._

I sighed and slowly shook my head, then stood on my feet to reveal myself in my _dress_, Lionel following me soon after.

"That better be all of you!" the guards spoke angrily.

Immediately, Kay held up his hands in mock defense. "They are! They are!" Then he pointed towards the two of us. "They're my sisters! We're the children of Billy Bob—you know, the blacksmith that lives not far from here?"

At that moment, I rolled my eyes. _Best excuse you could think of, huh?_

At this, I watched as Cenred's men briefly exchanged dubious glances at each other, then began to stare at us with suspicious looks on their faces, scrutinizing their gazes more on me and Lionel.

(insert mental sigh here) This was _definitely _not going to work out.

"No, I'm afraid not, _boy,_" the soldier spoke sternly, approaching us with a doubtful expression. "But maybe King Cenred knows of him." He smirked darkly, then reached his arm out to grab Kay.

That was when the platinum held up his hands at the latter. "Wait! Wait!"

In that instant, the guard sighed and stood there for a minute. "_What?_"

Kay exhaled sharply and stared at the man with an innocent look in his big, grey eyes. "Please…we got lost on our way home. Can't you at least unlock this gate so we can get back? It's the only way, and if we don't get home soon, Father will be furious with us when we're late for supper." He turned to wave his hand, as if to signal Lionel over.

And in less than a second, the brunette was already at the knight's side, gazing at the guards with his sparkling blue, _puppy-dog _eyes.

"_Please?_" Lionel uttered softly.

At that moment, Arthur looked at me in disbelief, and my mouth dropped open incredulously.

…_you've __**got **__to be kidding me._

In that instant, the soldier stared at the two with a dissatisfied look on his face. But then not long after that to my surprise…he began to hesitate for a minute and glanced back to look at his comrade with reluctant eyes.

"Er…what do you think, Joe?"

_WHAT?_

I watched as the one named Joe flinched and cringed as he looked back at the brunette's glimmering eyes, his heart melting.

He blubbered, then spoke in a wavering tone. "Well…I-I don't know…"

The other guard rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, putting his hand to his forehead. "Good _Lord—_"

He took a deep breath, then raised his head and dug into his pocket to pull out a ring of keys, walking past Kay and Arthur to fiddle with the lock.

At that point, my gaze was shifting repeatedly from him to the two imbeciles next to me, not counting Arthur this time.

"Of all times…" the soldier muttered to himself.

_No way, _I thought to myself, staring at Lionel. _If it's like that, then he just might make the best future con artist ever…_

Suddenly, there was a clink and a clank coming from the lock, and the night guard began to rise on his feet to begin scolding us like we really _were _children.

"Good heavens—don't you kids realize that there are _fugitives _running around in this kingdom—"

But before the man could finish, Kay had already elbowed his head and knocked him unconscious while Arthur had stood up to take care of his idiot comrade.

"Gah!"

_Thud._

"Of course we do," Arthur's cousin replied with a chuckle, dusting his hands clean after that.

In that instant, the four of us sighed in relief, and the platinum blonde advanced forward to open the unlocked gate.

"Let's go! They'll be here any minute!" he called, waving his hand towards the rest of us.

Even now, I was still shaking my head at him—until Prince Clotpole grabbed my arm and yanked me out into the Forest of Gedref.

~o~

"What do you mean, 'they've escaped'!" Cenred roared, sitting up from his throne.

At that moment, his henchmen got on their knees, cowering in fear of their master.

The king put his head to his forehead, letting out a sharp exhale. Then he whipped his head up and glared at his men, pointing a finger at each and every one of them.

"Find them immediately! And _kill _them if you have to!"

In that instant, the leader of the group clumsily got up on his feet to scamper out the front door, his comrades following after him frantically.

"Don't worry, boss! We're way ahead of you!" the chief criminal called over his shoulder.

The door slammed, and Cenred sat down on his throne again, still contemplating himself as to why he even _bothered _to hire such buffoons in the first place.

~o~

_Huff…puff…huff…puff…_

"Keep running!" Kay began to shout over his shoulder as we sprinted past several trees. "We're almost there!"

"Shut up, you moron!" Arthur hissed, grabbing the back of his cousin's head. "You'll get us killed before we even _get _there!"

At that moment, the platinum chuckled softly, then began to run even faster.

~o~

At this point, Cenred's men had already begun to swarm the entire forest in a divide-and-conquer sort of formation, heading in every possible direction that they could think of to cut us all off from getting back to Camelot.

But despite the fact that we had all expected this knowing just how _obvious _Cenred could be at times, we still continued to run blindly down every path we could find—under the least possible chance where any of us could be spotted at any moment in time.

Though unfortunately…Kay had been the one leading the way for us. Yes, Sir Kay of Leone—the best close-combat warrior in all the land…but the _worst_ map reader and listener one could ever possibly _dream _of, which er…_quite _made things worse in that situation.

Eventually, we'd reached yet _another _dead end, and Prince Clotpole had begun to curse the poor superprat out once again, although it wasn't like he hadn't been doing so before when the platinum refused to let him take the lead—a _deathly _terrible mistake on his part.

Arthur exhaled sharply, then waved his hands angrily at the knight. "Where the hell do you think you're taking us _now!"_ he yelled at him, his face flushing red with rage. "Don't tell me we're just going to _walk _right through this wall!"

In that instant, I let out an impatient sigh and lowered my eyes tentatively.

_We technically _could _if you didn't hate _magic _so much like your damn father…_

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, then glanced up as Kay froze where he was and began to scratch the back of his head nervously, like a lost bunny rabbit at the fork of a road.

He exhaled, then spoke in a reluctant tone. "Well, we could always try to climb _over _it…"

The Prince slapped his hand over his forehead and let out an aggravated sigh. "Good _heavens, _Kay—_please _try to be reasonable here. We are _running _from about a _thousand _angry guards—and of _all_ places you could possibly think of, you decide to take us down to a _dead end!" _he shouted, his voice escalating with fury. "Are you _really _out of your mind? Come on! You're a _knight, _for God's sake! Think of a different route!"

The platinum shrugged his shoulders and slowly shook his head.

At that moment, Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief, and he put his hands on his hips for a minute, looking away. Then he stared back at his cousin and impatiently extended a hand out towards him.

"Where's the map? Let me see it."

"I don't have it," Kay whined peevishly.

In that instant, the dollophead's face grew even redder. "What do you mean, 'you don't have it?' I gave it to _you _when we left!"

"Well, I dropped it when you were busy yelling at me at the _last _dead end!" the platinum retorted.

"You _what?"_

From that point on, the prats had an all-out battle royale with each other, while Lionel and I just stood there on the sidelines shaking our head incredulously as the two of them raged on at each other.

"How many times have you been to the Forest of Gedref? _Tell me._"

"It's not like I come here all the time when it's _dark!" _the other shot back.

Arthur let out another irritated sigh. "Christ, Kay—_now _what do you suggest we do? They'll be here any minute!" he screamed.

At that point, I took a deep breath and put my hand to my forehead as they both continued to argue. _Oh, boy…_

"You're beginning to be even more of an _idiot_ than _Merlin _is right now!"

_Really? _I began to think to myself, chuckling sardonically as the clotpole pointed a finger at me that instant.

I half-heartedly sighed. _That makes me feel _so _much better._

I watched as Arthur growled at the latter, then raise his head up to glare hopelessly at the night sky.

"Oh my _gosh—_and you _wonder _to this daywhy I've always refused to go out on missions with you like this! You _never _listen to me, damn it!"

"And what the hell do you mean by _that, _cousin, huh?"

At that moment, the Prince exhaled sharply. "Even now, you _always _think that you have to take charge of things when I'm around just because you're a few years older than me! I'm more than _sick_ of this! It's not like that anymore!"

"Who said so, _Wart? _It's _been _like that. You have no say in this."

"For the love of _God, _Kay, we aren't _kids!" _the blonde retorted. "I'm the _Crown Prince _of Camelot, damn it! So _fuck _off already!"

"_Fuck off? _You _fuck off—_"

"You're a real _ass, _you know that?"

_Oh. _(snaps fingers in zigzag formation)

It went on like this for about a few more minutes or so, and even as Lionel and I began to search on our own for another way out of here, it was still useless because Cenred's men had already caught up to us right then and there.

And at the _same time, _when all of them literally had us cornered that instant, Prince _Assface _and Sir _Dickchin _were _still _fighting it off.

"Er…guys?" I spoke in a flat tone at them.

But…nothing. (insert sigh here)

"No!"

"_NO!"_

"NO!"

"_No—_"

Good Lord. It took almost a _full _minute there before I finally brought myself to take a couple of tree branches up in midair with my magic and threw them at both of their big _fat _heads.

"GUYS!" I shouted in a loud voice.

"_Ow—_WHAT?"

Immediately, they turned around to see the thousands of soldiers standing right there in front of us with murderous intent on each and every one of their faces.

Only _then_ did they realize the hell of a situation we were in right now… (insert weak chuckle here) Delayed reaction much?

At first, the two blondes looked at the guards with shocked expressions on their faces, then quickly took out their swords and began to sprint their way through, Lionel and me tagging along right behind them.

"RUN!" Kay yelled that instant, shoving off one of the burly men.

And so we ran for our lives, away from the angry mob that was chasing us down.

~o~

After a while, they'd followed us into a clearing, and we'd had no choice _but _to face them now.

Kay and Arthur dashed headlong out in front of them, swords clashing with a whole bunch of other weapons.

…while on the other hand, you had me in the very back of the crowd, effortlessly repelling all of the ones that came after me with my magic in addition to the others that began to attack Lionel.

My eyes flashed bright amber for a second as I whispered yet _another _spell. Then I shifted my gaze towards the young brunette, who did nothing more but cower in fear a few feet away from where I was.

"Lionel—use your magic!" I called out to him, pushing away the man behind me. "Save yourself—it's your only chance! They won't hear you!"

At that moment, I briefly glanced over at Kay and Arthur on the other side of the field, too occupied to hear a word I was saying right now.

But the latter still refused to use the gifts he'd inherited from birth.

"LIONEL!" I screamed at him.

It was no use—he wouldn't listen to me.

That was when a broad-shouldered soldier had appeared out of the blue from behind him with a blade poised ready in his hands to strike down upon the brunette's very head.

Immediately, my eyes widened with horror, and I desperately sprinted over to try to deflect the assailant's move in time…but it was too soon—I wouldn't make it.

"Argh!" the man bellowed as he started to bring his hand down…

But suddenly, there was another cry of pain—one that did not belong to Lionel.

In that instant, a flash of platinum blonde could be seen before me, crumpling to the ground where the brunette was.

"KAY!"

~o~

In less than a second, I was at their side, facing the burly man with angry golden eyes. Then without a moment's hesitation, I took Kay's sword from the ground and swung it at that latter's chest, striking him down where he was.

After that, I begun to hear shrieks from behind me, and I turned around to see the platinum blonde unconscious in Lionel's arms, his arm bleeding crimson red and the young brunette's eyes swollen and tear-stained.

At that moment, I knelt down beside them and looked at the poor knight's arm, wincing. _Oh, shit._

Before I knew it, Arthur was already next to me, breathing heavily and sweating like hell.

…not to mention the fact that his own wound from the arrow that had pierced the back of his shoulder at the bridge had begun to bleed as well.

"You're bleeding," I managed to speak breathlessly just below a choked whisper.

But the dollophead had already hauled onto his shoulders and stood up. "Never mind that—we've got to get out of here," he replied exhaustedly, glancing down at me with a serious countenance.

Then he shifted his gaze over at the crying brunette sitting beside me with bloodstained hands and softened his eyes. "It's fine. He's suffered a lot worse than this. Don't worry about it," he murmured in a tone so reassuring that _I _believed him at the same time.

After that, he turned to look at me, and I shifted over to put my hand on Lionel's shoulder. "Come on. He's going to be all right—I promise."

At that moment, the brunette sniffled and quickly wiped his cheeks with his wrist. Then he nodded once and got up to follow after me.

~o~

After half an hour, when we'd finally lost Cenred's men, we'd managed to settle temporarily by a nearby lake, setting up camp and everything that went along with the idea.

I sighed as I sat by one of the trees in the back, picking at a small clump of tall grass at my disposal. But at the same time, I couldn't help but look at the two by the campfire as Lionel sat next to a sleeping Kay, his arm wrapped tightly in gauze.

To tell you the truth, he was _damn _lucky it was just a cut…

I took a deep breath, then glanced over my shoulder to see that Arthur was staring at them as well. But as soon as I decided to turn around, he stiffened slightly where he was upon meeting my gaze for just a second and looked away.

For a minute, my eyes lingered on the back of his head. Then I lowered them and yanked one of the grass blades from the ground, tossing it aside and thinking to myself.

At that moment, Gaius's words had begun to echo in the corners of my mind.

~xXx~

_"Today…is Arthur's birthday…also his mother's death day. Do be careful how you word things with him from this point on, Merlin."_

"…_until when are the two of you to go on like this any longer? He needs you now more than ever, regardless if you both are still fighting or not."_

~xXx~

(insert weak chuckle here) Wow—couldn't believe how I'd almost forgotten about that…

I paused, then raised my head to look at the blonde, who was sitting in front of a dark lake, his shoulder bandaged and his back bare.

I swallowed. _…but how the hell was I going to make this up to him now, after everything that's happened?_

In that instant, I grabbed my bag and started to rummage through it with my hands.

_I haven't even given him _anything _for his own birthday…_

I exhaled sharply and dug deeper into my stuff—until I came across a familiar object and carefully took it out of the bag to look at it, gingerly holding the figure between my fingers.

It was a dragon, made of white clay—one that I knew I'd never forget in my life: the very same one…that my _father_ had given to me just moments before he died.

At that moment, my eyes softened upon scrutinizing my gaze at the memorable gift I held in my hand. Then I paused and looked at Arthur again, who had sighed and tossed a pebble out across the surface of the dark waters in front of him.

"_I'm sure he feels just as guilty as you are for beginning this trivial quarrel."_

After that, I reluctantly glanced down at the miniature dragon and got up to quietly approach the latter.

~o~

Arthur was peering down at his reflection in the moonlit depths below.

Bu that wasn't until he heard a small rustle from behind and noticed the image of a hand of ivory appear in the lake, holding what seemed to be a tiny model of a great dragon.

In that instant, the Prince sighed, then finally turned to see to see his ever-so-faithful manservant standing next to him, a slight but sincere grin on his face.

"Happy Birthday," Merlin spoke, just above a hushed whisper.

The Pendragon paused, then carefully took the clay figure in the palm of his hand and turned back to the lake.

Merlin let out a small sigh and calmly sat down next to him, gazing up the majestic mountains that towered over them on the other side.

After a while, Arthur closed his eyes and spoke in a quiet but unwavering tone.

"…you didn't _have_ to give me anything, you know."

A long pause.

Then the raven replied, unhesitant. "I know, but…well, I wanted to."

The blonde took a deep breath.

For a moment, silence filled the empty space that resided between the two—until Arthur spoke again in a dull voice.

"You're just about the _only_ one who remembered, if you haven't realized by now."

Merlin held his breath.

The Prince pursed his lips, then shifted his gaze towards his servant. "But it makes me wonder _how_ you found out without me telling you at any point before."

"Gaius told me," the warlock answered quietly, peering down at the dark waters. He paused for a second.

"In fact…he told me everything after that," he added sheepishly.

In that instant, the blonde's eyes softened, and he turned his head to stare in the same direction as well, their reflections looking back at them from the lake below, a light breeze of wind blowing right past them.

"…look," Arthur began in a half-hearted tone. "I'm sorry for everything that's happened in this past week or so." He looked at the other and let out a sigh. "I admit that I may have been a bit of a prat for yelling at you that morning…and I said some hurtful things that I know that I really shouldn't have said. Most of all, I truly didn't mean to insult your father like that—really."

Silence.

"Merlin…can I dare ask you to forgive me?"

At that moment, the warlock pursed his lips, then closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. "Yeah…I guess so. I mean, it's not like I said things that weren't as terrible as the ones _you _said. And…well, I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to insult your _mother, _either," he finished, grinning at the blonde next to him.

The Pendragon chuckled, playfully nudging the other's shoulder with his elbow.

Merlin laughed, lightly shoving him back.

That was when they heard a sniffle and a faint sob from behind, and immediately turned to see Kay holding Lionel with a gentle expression on his face, his arms carefully wrapped around the young brunette.

~o~

At this, my eyes began to soften that instant, and I glanced to my right to see that Arthur had closed his.

He sighed after a long pause, then spoke in a hushed voice.

"…it's really a shame that in a few hours, we'll literally be fighting each other all over again."

At that moment, I winced and replied with a concerned look. "Is it really that impossible to have your father call off the final match?"

Arthur took a deep breath and turned away from me, burying his hands in his palms. "No—it's not _impossible, _Merlin." He exhaled sharply, then glanced at me. "It's the matter of how much everyone in Camelot is counting on both of us to go through with this."

"But I still don't understand," I spoke sullenly. "Why _does _everyone want you and Kay to fight each other?"

Another moment of silence.

"Because…we've been at each other's necks since birth," the Pendragon breathed. "They've watched us ever since we were kids, rivaling one another so that we could be the best. And now that it's been _ten _years since the last time we fought against each other in a single-handed match…they're curious to see how either of us will handle this situation, as the future king and as a distinguished knight of Camelot." He looked at me. "Though to tell you the truth…I'd actually wanted to make amends to Kay for a very long while—just that right now…" He chuckled. "…right now, I haven't been given the chance."

In that instant, my face grew slightly rigid, and I lowered my eyes to gaze despondently down at the rippling dark waves.

That was when Arthur continued in a calm and sincere voice. "Merlin…it's not like I've been ignoring you this whole time, and I'm sorry if somehow…it seemed that way to you."

I frowned and let out a sigh.

The Pendragon smirked, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry—we'll think of a way around this later. I can definitely promise you that."

At that moment, I grinned wryly and stared into the other's eyes.

But that wasn't until we'd heard another sniffle and turned to watch the two sitting by the campfire next to each other.

At that point, Kay's lips were locked with Lionel, and both of their eyes were closed, their expressions cool and serene.

I swallowed, then turned to look at Arthur again.

But not long after that, I'd found his lips already pressed against mine that instant, and I closed my eyes as well, despite just how surprised I'd been.

Then after a while, he finally pulled back from me, and I opened my eyes to see him put his fingers over his lips, glancing up at me with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Er…sorry about that," he murmured, getting up at that moment to make his way towards camp. "What was I _thinking…?" _I'd heard him whisper.

All I could do that same time was stare at him dazedly as he approached his older cousin to talk things out with him.

Well—that was…unexpected. (insert weak chuckle here)

~o~

_(A few hours later…)_

The audience was cheering as Kay and Arthur entered the arena, waving at them with smug grins on their faces.

Lionel and I stood right outside, just where we could see the two of them fight against each other after they'd put their helmets on.

And so the battle raged on as Arthur's sword clashed with his cousin's, the platinum fighting with his right arm in place of his still injured left.

At that moment, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, remembering what the two prats had said just before they left for the match.

~xXx~

"_Don't worry about it—we've got this handled. Everything is going to be perfectly fine…"_

~xXx~

_It _better _be, _I thought to myself as I watched Kay put up his shield.

_CLANG._

A roar from the crowd.

I opened my eyes and let out a sigh as I glanced over at King _Full-of-himself _and his cousin, shouting at both of their sons from their special seats in the stands.

(insert sarcastic chuckle here) _Wonderful_ thing to do for your kids especially when you know that there's the slightest possibility that _one _of them might get himself killed…

That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to see Lionel staring at me with a smile on his face. "It'll be fine," he spoke reassuringly, his ocean blue eyes sparkling before me.

At that moment, I chuckled lightly and smiled back at him in response. Then we turned back to watch the two blondes continue to fight.

At first, I'd heard the brunette laugh softly and slightly raise his hand to point at the two of them, his eyes beginning to turn amber.

But immediately, I grabbed his hand and looked at him with a stern look on my face. "_Now _it's not the right time for you to finally use that magic of yours," I spoke with a smirk.

Lionel chuckled and slowly pulled away from me with a smug grin. "Huh. Don't worry—I wasn't going to anyway. 'Course I wouldn't want to Uther to burn me at the stake right when we're in the middle of this."

I scoffed mockingly and let go of his hand as we watched Arthur and Kay's battle royale…though it wasn't long before all of a sudden, Kay had fallen, and Arthur stood over him with his sword poised ready.

I held my breath in an instant.

They'd looked at one another with rigid faces, but then I'd noticed the two of them briefly glance over at their fathers and then back into each other's eyes, blue against grey, as they inconspicuously nodded once as if in agreement to a secret plan of some sort that only _they _would know of at that point...

That was when Arthur's sword had flown out of his hand, and the audience ooh'd as Kay got up to shove the Pendragon to the ground on his back, his eyes wide with surprise and his mouth dropped open.

Immediately, I'd seen Kay pick up the sword and aim it directly at his cousin's chest.

At that moment, my eyes bulged in fear as I remembered _that_ vision I'd seen in the earlier rounds of the tournament…of Arthur being slain by the platinum here and now where the two of them were in that instant.

I watched in horror as Kay started to bring the blade down on his cousin.

"No—" I began to shout, pushing my way through the crowd in front of me.

But that wasn't until he stopped short just a bit more than an inch above Arthur's heart, and the audience grew dead silent in the minute that it had happened.

For a while, the platinum held his weapon where it was, then turned to merely toss the sword aside and bent down to help his younger cousin up.

After that, everyone began to cheer loudly and started to clap their hands in applause as the two stood up to face them with confident grins on their faces. Even Uther and Ector were clapping, giving them a standing ovation from their seats.

"Well done! Well _done!" _the two dads chortled contentedly.

In response, Arthur and Kay smirked, bowing to their pleased audience.

In that instant, I let out a sigh. Then I chuckled as both prats turned their heads to raise their eyebrows at me humorously.

_Haha…not acting without a reason, huh? Those imbeciles…_

~o~

From outside Arthur's window, we watched as the platinum and brunette got on their horses, smiling at each other and having a conversation at the same time.

I couldn't help but grin at that moment, letting out an exhausted sigh.

"Well—it's a good thing that they're back together. Everything's back to normal now."

In that instant, the blonde exhaled and began to chuckle softly. _"Quite."_

I took a deep breath and reached over to close the window. "Who would've known?"

And that was when he'd begun to laugh wholeheartedly for some damn _odd _reason.

I paused for a minute right there, then turned to look at him with dubious eyes, an eyebrow raised.

He was _still _laughing at this point, and pretty soon…I swore I could probably _guess _why he even was.

"…you _knew, _didn't you?" I pouted at him.

At that moment, the clotpole chuckled, looking at me with mischievous eyes.

I frowned, shaking my head in disbelief. "So all this time, _you_ mean to tell _me_ that—"

He snickered. "Hey—it wasn't part of my _master scheme_ for you to get involved in this in the first place. You broughtthis upon yourself. After all, you were the one who volunteered in the first place to be _Kay's _servant."

"But—I—" I sputtered, my eyes bulging with complete and utter incredulity.

Arthur smirked, condescendingly crossing his arms over his chest. "More so, I _really_ didn't expect for you to go off and rather try to _give me hell _like that—now _that _was a surprise, especially from you, Merlin. I'll have to remember to hold that against you someday."

At that point, I was literally struck dumbfounded by this _dollophead's _words. "You arrogant _clotpole—" _I retorted. But then I stopped mid-sentence and let out an exasperated sigh, glaring at the prat in front of me.

"…I hate you. _Really,"_ I spoke unwaveringly, raising my eyebrows at him in protest.

Immediately, he stopped laughing and stared at me with a stern expression on his face.

In that instant, I opened my mouth to speak again, but that wasn't until he caught in another chokehold all of a sudden and began to rather _harshly_ chafe his fist down against the top of my head.

"_Ow—_hey!" I shouted, wriggling out of the other's grasp to glare at him as I rubbed my scalp with the palm of my hand.

But at that moment, all Arthur could do was chuckle as he observed the cross expression that began to appear on my face in that instant.

"_That's _payback for what happened back there with the guard and the gate," he chortled self-satisfyingly. "Now we're even, _Merlin. _So—if you could just go and muck out my horses, then…"

At that moment, I frowned at the blonde, then moved to chase after him as he playfully ran out the door and down into the back part outside of the castle.

"Arthur!" I called angrily as we passed a bunch of trees.

For a minute, it seemed like I was about to catch up with him for once, and I'd just been about to aim the biggest tree branch at the back of his fat head, when all of a sudden—

"_Neigh!"_

_Trot._

_Trot._

From out of the blue, a unicorn_—_yes, a _unicorn—_had galloped right past us as soon as we were a good few feet away from the castle.

Immediately, the two of us stopped in our tracks with wide eyes as we watched the mythical creature disappear into the depths of the forest.

And for a moment, it had been, well…rather _awkwardly _silent. (insert weak chuckle here)

But then not long after that, we both exploded into an abrupt wave of laughter and continued the mock chase once more, me following after the running prat.

That morning, the sun was high in the sky, the Future King and his Warlock running under the scattered cluster of clouds hovering above their very heads.

But then again, this story wasn't _quite_ over yet.

~o~

Later on that same day, when the two had returned from a hard day's work of training—_both_ of them in the case that Arthur had almost beaten Merlin to a pulp—the sun had finally sank behind Camelot and the moon had risen high in the sky, over the kingdom with the numerous stars that filled the darkness of the night.

And soon, the Crown Prince himself could be seen getting ready for bed, as he stretched his arms out and let out a yawn while his servant instinctively pulled back the sheets for him.

Arthur sighed, then rubbed his eyes, tiredly getting into the bed. "Good night, Merlin."

Merlin exhaled sharply, bringing the blanket over the blonde's bare shoulder. "Good night, clotpole."

Immediately, he chuckled as an irritated look appeared on the latter's face. "Just kidding," the raven added, turning to leave.

At this, the dollophead frowned and shuffled over on his side to close his eyes, muttering something quite spiteful under his breath.

Then it grew quiet in the room after that, and Merlin slowly shook his head with a grin on his face, stepping over to reach out for the doorknob. But that wasn't until all of a sudden when a thought had occurred in their very corner of his mind just as he had glanced back to see Arthur's sleeping face and his arm dangling from the very side of the bed in a rather _oddly _familiar manner...

In that instant, the raven couldn't help but chuckle softly at the sight as he remembered what had happened _those _past few nights. And with that, he took a deep breath, then walked back towards the blonde's bedside with a proud expression on his face.

"Oh—sorry, almost forgot something," he murmured smugly.

No response.

At that moment, Merlin smirked upon staring at the Prince's face and reached under his very head to pull out one of his pillows, stuffing it under the latter's arm.

Immediately, Arthur had stirred, looking up at his servant with incredulous eyes. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" he retorted with a pout, raising his head.

For a minute, Merlin's mouth gaped a little, but then he shrugged his shoulders and put his hands up in mock defense. "Just thought it was necessary," he replied innocently, "You know…for _those_ dreams you've been having for…the past _couple _of nights?" he finished, chuckling nervously at the blonde.

But he had only frowned at him, his eyebrows curling together for a brief minute.

"_Dreams?_ What_ dreams?"_ he asked confusingly. "I have absolutely _no idea_ what you're trying to get here, Merlin."

In that instant, the warlock let out a sigh of irony. _Oh…so he didn't know what he was doing after all… _he sarcastically thought to himself. _Now _that's _rather strange…_

He paused for a moment to try to absorb the perplexed look that suddenly appeared on the dollophead's face, then opened his mouth to speak again in a hesitant tone, grabbing another pillow from the bed and holding it carefully in his hands as if it were a baby.

"All right, then…maybe_ this_ ought to jog your memory a bit," he added, shifting his gaze from the pillow to Arthur, who sighed with aggravation and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Merlin—this _better_ be good, or else I swear I'll have you thrown in the dungeon right before you can even say _wait_."

At that moment, Merlin rolled his eyes and spoke in an unwavering voice. "Fine. Just listen to me for a minute," he breathed, glancing down at the pillow in his hands. "So tell me, Arthur…does the word…'cuddling' sound familiar to you by any chance?"

At this, the blonde raised an eyebrow. "_Cuddling?_"

The warlock eagerly nodded his head.

However, Arthur had only seemed more puzzled and frowned upon the very idea like it were some sort of blasphemy. _"No_—what in the world would make you say that?"

The raven closed his eyes and exhaled sharply in defeat. But that wasn't until another idea sprang up in his mind and he looked at him again, this time shifting his eyes from the latter's arm to the latter's face.

"Oh, I don't know…" he drawled sarcastically, gibingly hugging the pillow close to his chest and pretending to snore, very much like how the person in front of him would.

_"Cuddling,_" Merlin spat out once more with more than enough emphasis to his tone.

Immediately, Arthur was silent, and the raven was even more amused to see the uneasiness that grew on the latter's face as he watched this imitation of a faint memory now perfectly vivid in his mind for some reason…

Of him absent-mindedly mumbling an all _too _familiar name that he could feel right now resting at the very tip of his tongue…

_Oh…**fuck**, _he ironically thought to himself.

In that instant, the Prince's cheeks flushed a faint pink as he finally recalled what had happened in that memory and looked up to see his servant smirking proudly at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?" Merlin asked, tilting his head.

At that moment, Arthur frowned sheepishly at him, and the raven had started to laugh.

"Pshh—so I take it that you won't be needing that extra pillow, then?" he chortled.

"Get out of my room," the blonde spat out, briskly sitting up in his bed to glare at Merlin. "_Now."_

In that instant, the raven had begun to laugh even louder, stumbling over to reach for the doorknob with a smug grin.

"CUDDLING!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, opening the door to step outside the threshold.

Immediately, Prince _Arse-_r's eyes widened in embarrassment and irritation. "I'll show _you _cuddling!" he roared, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Merlin's head.

But the warlock ducked and dodged the attack, laughing as he closed the door behind him.

Arthur growled and let out an exasperated sigh, burying his face in the palms of his hands. Then he laid back down on his bed and rolled over on his _other _side so that his back was now facing the door.

"…"

…though this didn't quite hide the fact that he still had a _blue _scarf hidden under his very mattress at that moment…

In that instant, the blonde chuckled softly with a smirk as he pulled the rag out from underneath and stuffed it deep into his pillowcase.

_There's no way he'll ever find it now._

_*~FIN~*_

**Notes from the KIT-chan~**

The end! XD Hope you all enjoyed reading this story, and thanks again to everyone who's supported me this whole time—very much appreciated! :D

Also, hope that satisfied anyone who was wondering why Arthur was _cuddling _Merlin when he was asleep before...lawl. XD

Please review if you haven't already, and to the rest of you Merlin fangirls out there—SEASON 4 shouldn't be _that _far away if we wait long enough together! OwO

Till next time, loves~! ;D

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.


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